To Live Nine Lives
by angelofjoy
Summary: Sequel to: No Ice in Paradise. On the morning of her death, Kat's case is entrusted to Steve and the Five-O's. Steve must decide whether or not to trust or to let his hatred over rule his better judgement. Rated T for violence and language.
1. The Sanctity of Life

**A/N: This is the Sequel to No Ice In Paradise, as requested by many of my readers. I hope you enjoy this beginning and stay tuned for more to come in the next few days. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for Kat, and even then I probably shouldn't!**

**I love when a story just writes itself and somehow this one had decided to do that. I hadn't been thinking of this sequel, (I have two other H50 stories that I started and was getting ready to post, but they are now on the back burner for this story), I was stumped as to what I would write, and then all of a sudden Nine lives of Kat Smith called out to me. So yes, most of the story will focus on who the OC character was and how she became who she was before her murder. It will also have some twists and turns in it. Big desisions and a little suprise because help is coming from a very odd place. Plus, because I was asked for Steve and/or Danny whumpage, I am going to try and please all of the angsy gods that are out there. So this should prove to be a nice little adventure to send out Favorite Four on, I hope it lives up to expectations!**

**So I hope you like it. I hope to hear from you all and thanks for reading!**

Chapter 1: The Sanctity of Life

The sun shone brightly, the sweet smell of the hibiscus flowers mixed with the sharp saltiness of the ocean spiced the tropical Hawaiian air as the solemn call of a bugle sang out over the early morning hour. It was a beautiful day, but it really felt like it shouldn't have been.

Steve McGarrett, clothed in his full dress uniform, stood silently, solemnly, as men, women and children of all ages mourned around him. To his right, his partner and best friend, Danny Williams stood just as regally in full dress uniform as well. Danny was silent, an odd occurrence for the New Jersey native, but appropriate for the setting.

It had been a tough week for the Five-O crew. The sudden death of Katherine (Kat) Smith through Danny into action and proved to Steve that even under extreme pressure there wasn't anyone else that he would want at his side. The initial ruling and investigation by police had ruled Kat's death a suicide, but Steve knew better and Danny proved it. The Detective walked into the crime scene with determination, found the discrepancies and over turned the initial assumptions. Katherine Smith would now have, at least, died with respect and dignity. She deserved more than the pauper's burial that came with the disgrace that could have been put upon her. Steve and Danny made sure she was given every right and every honor that any law enforcement agent would have gotten. She was after all a bounty hunter and much respected bondswoman. Kat had studied to be a police office, had worked with James McGarrett, but had decided to do things her own way. She was a tough, strict, woman, with a very wise spirit and she deserved to be remembered for it. She deserved respect even now, and so here they stood among men and women of all walks of life who had been touched by Kat and her goodness.

To McGarrett's left stood the beautiful child of Hawaii, Detective Kono Kalakaua, dressed in her full dress uniform as well, and adding to the stateliness of the trio that seemed to preside over the gathering. The Five-O taskforce had quickly begun to establish their reputation within the state of Hawaii, and became a symbol of the change that they had vowed to bring to the islands in the wake of so much crime and corruption. Danny, Kono and Steve were only three members of the crew that had become an icon, a symbol of good deeds and relentless passion in the face of crime and corruption. They were well known; recognized for their achievements and publicly praised by so many that it was almost shocking to see them among the gathered mourners. They had become true leaders held in high esteem and had worked to publicly and privately clear up what had happened to Kat. Steve had made a public announcement when the case had changed in their favor. He spoke passionately about all of the good that Kat had done and how Hawaii had lost an asset and a gem of their society to the violence that had taken her life. Again, at the press conference Danny, Chin and Kono stood behind him, supporting his decision to speak out and echoed his resolved to bring those responsible for Kat's death to justice. They now found themselves mourning and protecting the innocent that came out in droves to pay their respects to a woman well loved by many and hated by a select few.

Standing like statues on guard, the Five-O watched as the casket was processed into the cemetery where the final member of their crew could be found. Chin Ho Kelly walked at the back left side of the casket, it resting on his shoulder as the bugle called and the tropical birds led them onward to where Kat would be laid to rest. Chin had been a member of her team, before he had come to the Five-O task force, and as one of her 'boys' it was only fitting that he would be one of the pallbearers at her funeral. The week had been tough and trying for the quite Hawaii native. He had stepped back from the investigation, which was being run by the other members of his team, and spent his time in mourning for the family and friends of one of his most trusted and greatest allies. Kat had always believed in him, trusted him and he owed her his life. The least he could do, was publicly show his devotion to the woman and mourn with those whom he had helped with both Kat and his three other team members.

When the casket was settled and the priest had come forward to say his portion of the funeral burial pray, Chin joined his team and stood beside Danny, his eyes ever locked in the place where he would leave one of his best friends. Chairs were lined up among the rows of markers as people from all walks of life listened and waited. The American flag was draped over the casket, the flowers were all indigenous to the islands and leis of all kind adorned the final resting place for one Katherine Smith. Kat, in her life, had adopted the true spirit of Aloha and was now receiving her final blessings by those who loved her. It was quite in the wake of her passing, sadness was all around them and questions loomed, but most of all they mourned for a woman whom two of the four Five-O's had only just met and for whom they had all become very fond. Kat had touched their hearts, now they were determined to find her killer.

Steve and his team stood for hours, as the procession of people who had come to mourn, paid their respects and left the brilliance of the beautiful day to continue on in sadness in their own way. Steve could not bring himself to leave while there were still people that needed to know that he and his team were on the case. Something had struck a chord with him and although he hardly knew Kat, she had made the vital connection with him that had captured his devotion and respect. She had worked with his father, had been apart of his previous cases and had spoken so highly of the man whom Steve had not been able to know in his later life, that Steve McGarrett had been easily captured by her spell. She had only begun to tell him stories of his father. She had hinted at his personality that the two men shared, had given Steve a glimpse into the man he, himself, was becoming because of his connection with his father. There had been so much promise of truths in knowing Kat, but now she was gone, and Steve would have to put together the pieces without her.

On the morning of her death, a package had arrived at the Five-O office. Another of their friends had brought it, and he too had been touched by the goodness and justness of Katherine Smith. Kamekona had followed his orders, just as Kat had when she was given the package by Steve's father. There were case materials in the box that lead them not in the path that they had assumed but another case had come out of the wood work and now it was in Steve's hand. With the package came a letter, the letter was written by Kat and read thusly:

_Steven,_

_Your father trusted me with this case, a case that has to be investigated in ways that are outside regular channels. Answers to this case have always been elusive and they have ways of doing much damage to those who look into them. If you are reading this, then you already know the damage that this case can do. I trust you now with the secrets your father had been keeping for many years, and hope that my involvement in this case does not corrupt your ideas of your father or of myself. I believe in justice, and I think you know that, but sometimes those who seek justice can be corrupted. Be careful, Steven. Trust that you know where to find the answers and that the people that you have surrounded yourself with can help you. I wish I could tell you more, but my time is drawing to an end. I wish I could have known you better, but we all must make sacrifices. _

_Kat_

The case in question had gone neglected while the investigation loomed over Kat's death. All of their energy had gone into that investigation and had proved, to many people, just how determined and expertly trained the Five-Os were.

Some how, deep down, every one of the Five-O members knew that both cases were connected; that they were all involved now and that they would find the truths among the packs of lies that sat waiting for them. For now, as they waited in solemn silence for the mourners to pass on from the grave site, each of the Five-O pondered their own involvement in the case that was awaiting their attention, and what they were willing to do in the name of justice.


	2. Of All The People

**A/N Thank you everyone for reading and Alerting! It means so much to me. And Thanks to everyone who have jumped back and read No Ice In Paradise!**

**Just a quick note: this story takes place before Jenna Kay shows up with all her info. So if that doesn't give away the plot for this chapter, I don't know what does, but I know that if I don't tell people this I will get the comments telling me I'm out of the cannon! Sorry about that, but I had this plot twist before the last episode aired.**

**Anyhoo, thanks for reading, enjoy the chapter, I own nothing and I will catch you with more in a little while!**

Chapter 2: Of all the People

As the day wore on, the luncheon had ended, the donations made in Kat's name were distributed and the awkwardness of where to go from that point started to settle in. Danny and Steve climbed into the Camaro together, Danny driving as Steve let his thought wonder away from him. Kono and Chin followed behind them in her Cruze, and for a moment they all knew where to go; the same thoughts running though all of their minds. Silence had been the driving factor for all four of them that day, but it was a knowing silence, a silence in which each of them heard the cries of their own thoughts and knew that they were thinking the same things. Word had become unnecessary with the Five-Os; they could read each other, see the answers in one another's eyes and could follow an order from a glance. For the four members of the Five-O task force their team had become their family, their Ohana, and they were turned into one another.

It is difficult to know how to end, especially when it is something as complicated as a life. Steve pondered life and death as the streets of Oahu passed by in a blur. The planning of the funeral, the act of actually putting a person to rest, and then what comes next, how do you leave? Everything has its season, it must come to an end, but to take the next step forward, after the end had come, was always the hardest and most awkward part. Steve turned in that moment and looked at Danny. The same thoughts were written on his face. Where do we go from here? His blue eyes screamed at the road as it passed them by. There is a guilt that goes with endings; the guilt of being the one that remains, who has to continue on, but where to go is always the most trying thing to figure out.

"What are we doing, Danny?" Steve asked breaking the silence and eyeing Kono's Cruze in the passenger side mirror.

"We're going to work, we're going through the case that was dropped off for us and we're going to find Kat's killer," Danny said, somewhat on auto pilot, his response was cold and harsh as he continued to stare at the road before him.

"Are we in the right mind set for that?" Steve asked staring out the window.

"Are we ever in the right mind set, Super SEAL?" Danny asked, it was truly Danny talking.

"Of course we are," Steve said a little on the defensive but content that Danny had found a way to put his thoughts at ease.

Steve fell silent again. Work was where he wanted to be, good on Danny for knowing that, but he wasn't sure that he wanted to dive into that case. He didn't want to read the letter again. He didn't want to even think about the last case they had worked on with Kat. He remembered her vibrancy as they took out the farm and rescued the girls, and yet there was still investigations going on down on the farm. Bodies were still coming into the light. It was a massive grave site, a horror story playing out before them, and they were about to move on. Was moving on really the right thing to be doing? Just like that. Pick up and turn away, just as they had done as the casket was being lowered into the ground. It all felt so unfinished and somehow final all at the same time.

Danny pulled the Camaro to a stop in the parking spot that he usually occupied. Habits were strong with the New Jersey detective, and as he got out of the car he watched and realized just how much he was running on habit in that moment. He had not had the connection with Kat that McGarrett did, but there had been something about her. The cops spirit, maybe, or perhaps it was the fact that she wasn't originally from the Islands, just like Danny, but she had found a way to fit in and surprisingly enough, in a short time, though he wouldn't admit it just yet, so was he. He was determined, feeling the finality of her death and the injustice of the act, and needing to find answers for her. But, he also believed there were secrets that Kat kept, he knew this to be true from her letter to McGarrett, but there was something else, something that had come out in the ending of her life. Where was her family? Why was it left to Five-O and the 'boys' who had followed Kat's direction to plan and execute her funeral? Why didn't she have anyone to call her own? All of these thoughts pulled him toward his daughter, and all Danny wanted was to call out to her, pick up Grace from school and spend the rest of his day trying to forget about what had just happened. Grace would help him move on, but he needed to stay to help his team.

Danny and Steve moved forward to catch up with Kono and Chin, who had already started moving up the sidewalk toward the Palace entrance before Steve and Danny were able to snap out of their own thoughts. All four of the Five-Os were watched with suspicion as they enter the palace in their dress uniforms and were watched by the other members of HPD who had not been part of the funeral. The gallantry and the ceremonial motions of the Five-Os had not been questioned. In a short time they came to rule over the palace and the police force, but their attire had always been casual. Seeing them looking as professional and as solemn as they were now put the whole palace into the shadows of the current state of affairs. There was silence as they entered the building. People stopped and watched as they walked through the lobby, the parting of the red sea happened before their own eyes, and the silence followed them through the whole building. The phones didn't dare ring, while the Five-Os were in mourning. It was almost like the building itself was paying its respects to a fallen member of her honor guard.

The team moved forward, paying little attention to anyone around them and made their way mechanically toward their offices. Once inside, the silence and tension grew. They, each member of the task force, moved toward their own offices and proceeded though the motions of divesting themselves of the heave regalia of their uniforms before returning to the bullpen looking like police officers for the only the second or third time, in their short history together.

"You look odd, boss," Kono smiled as Steve took a seat at the smart computer table, still wearing the dark uniform pants and the crisp white shirt of his naval dress uniform, and looked up at her as if he had now even seen her all day.

"So do you, Officer Kalakaua," Steve said and forced a smile and noticing the name patch on the blue shirt that was apart of her uniform.

"Lets all swear not to wear these again for a long time. It brings out the blue collar in all of us," Kono attempted a joke, got a small chuckle from her cousin and boss and then settled into the uncomfortable tension once again.

"I think the only one of us that really pulls off this look is Danny," Chin smiled as the detective joined them, clad in the same uniform as Chin and Kono, and looking every bit the professional cop he always said he was.

"I make this job look good," Danny smiled, shined his nails dramatically on his lapel and then fell into a chair at the smart center of their operations. "You know, I agree with Kono on this, though I'm not giving up my ties, I will give the uniform a break."

"This coming from Mr. Detective of the year with all these homicide under my belt, I don't believe you for a second Williams." Steve smiled.

"At least I'm not Mr. Hang a guy off a roof," Danny retorted.

Chin shook his head, sighed, smiled, and looked down at the blank screen, the Five-O crest and the ocean blue backdrop that stared back at him.

"So are we ready for this?" Steve asked, his eyes serious once again as he looked around the table at his team. "Are we ready to get back to work?"

"We gotta do something brah, or we'll go crazy." Chin said.

"Let's just get the awkwardness over with," Danny agreed with Chin.

"So, time to move forward," Kono said pulling the box from under the table and placing in the middle of the smart board and before all of her colleagues.

Steve's composure changed again. He wanted to work, wanted to build a case and get back to the action, but not that case.

"Do we really want to do this today?" Steve asked sadly staring at the box that he knew was full of questions. "I mean, we have other cases to wrap up, we could work on something else."

"Your mind is elsewhere?" Danny asked unconvinced by Steve's protests. "Seriously, tell me your mind is elsewhere."

"No its not and neither is yours, but maybe it should be." Steve sighed. "You tell me all the time that this isn't the navy, and you're right, but we're acting in such a way that I would swear was protocol. Maybe we need some time."

"Do you really think you need some time?" Chin asked raising an eyebrow to the young man who seldom slumped, but was currently only a portion of his usual tall, self.

"No," Steve said as he pushed himself up, grabbed the box and pulled it open, "we need to do this now." He added knowing his team was right. There was only one way to deal with the pain and guilt and awkwardness, and that was head on.

"Damn right we do," Kono stated as the contents of the box was laid out before them and their attention was captured by the oddities that were pulled from the box.

In the box were the usual pieces of evidence, bullets, files, finger prints, but there were other things; a diary, a birth certificate, an incomplete marriage certificate, a package of letters tied together with gardening twine and a ring baring the crested seal and Italian creed of an ancient family.

"Not really something I was expecting to see," Danny said handling the ring with care.

"Birth certificate is for a Katherine Carolyn Valentella; born July 24, 1954 in Chicago Illinois." Chin stated.

"Marriage certificate holds the same name," Kono added, "and one Giorgio Jacob Capone, but it's not signed or witness, and the marriage date is not filled in."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm all for a puzzle, but I was expecting less of Little Italy jumping out at me and more, I don't know, Yakuza." Danny stated flipping through the bundle of letters written in flawless Italian and sealed with the family crest."

"It a whole different case," Steve said, his brow furrowed. "I don't understand. Why would Kat and my dad be working this?"

"For the same reason any cop works a case," Danny said, "because we have to."

The door opened and closed behind the Five-Os as they remained occupied by the contents of the box. It took a moment for each of the members of the task force to realize that anyone had entered their bullpen, even though they had all heard the motions behind them. Steve was the first to turn, followed by Danny and then Chin and Kono followed suit, and the man that stood before them, unaccompanied, caught them all by surprise.

"Who do you think you are coming here," Steve hissed, his hand resting on his weapon as each member of his team did the same.

"I come in peace," Wo Fat stated raising his hands to the level of his head as he walked toward the Five-Os.

"What do you want?" Danny asked taking a stance that was just as defensive as Steve's.

The Five-O had come across more intel and were continually more suspicious of the man who stood before them, but still no proof had lead them to make any definitive conclusions. Even if they wanted to, they had nothing to hold this man on.

"I have come to bring you information." Wo Fat stated. "I know that you believe me to be evil, I will not speak on the subject as I will not incriminate myself, but I have information into the death of one Katherine Smith. I can tell you, it was not the work of the Yakuza."

"Why should we believe that?" Chin asked his calm composed exterior wavering slightly to his discomfort and anger.

"There are many organizations that are hell bent on evil that work and thrive here in Hawaii," Wo Fat stated. "All that I can tell you to convince you that I am telling you the truth is that I held Katherine Smith in very high esteem and so did my colleagues. She was an asset to many people and you do not destroy that which is useful. But she had an understanding of a crime family who lived and worked among us, and for whom she was determined to see come to justice."

"Who…?" Steve asked his hand ever on his gun.

"The Valentellas," Wo Fat stated.

"Sounds mobish," Danny stated not wanting to reveal any of what had been gained from the box that rested before them, as he, Kono and Chin, blocked the view of the evidence from Wo Fat.

"Mainland Mob, to be exact," Wo Fat stated. "They hail from Chicago moved to the islands about twelve years ago and have laid down their roots here. They are players in a lot of things."

"So what, you want us to take out another mod, so that yours can have high rule over the islands?" Danny asked accusingly.

"As I said, I will not incriminate myself, but I will tell you that there are ties to the mafia that you do not know about." Wo Fat stated. "I've given you all that I can for now. I am sure you will piece together the rest."

"Why would you tell us this?" Steve asked, his suspicions toward the man causing his anger to surface in his eyes.

"Katherine Smith did a service to me when I first came to this country, and honor is the basis of my culture. I protected Katherine as well as I could, that is why I cooperated with your previous case." Wo Fat stated. "I owed her that much." He added and turned on his heals and left.

Silence fell once again among the four members of Five-O, but their eyes carried on the conversation that they would not speak, as the contents of the box lay before them ready to tell its story.

**A/N Let it be known that I love a good villain. Wo Fat to me is a complex and multidimentional character. I am awaiting great, sneaky, things from him and I promise he's got some stuff up his sleeve for this story. I don't know what the service that Kat paid him was, but it should be interesting to find out. Thanks again for reading!**


	3. To Trust Thine Enemy

**A/N Hello everyone. Sorry about the lack of updates, I've been preoccupied. Hope you enjoy this chapter, nothing really important happens but it sets things into motion and it has some comedic moments that a serious story really needs.**

**As usual, I own nothing. Happy reading!**

Chapter 3: To Trust Thine Enemy

The initial shock of the meeting took a long time to wear off. The Five-Os stared after Wo Fat long after he had left them alone and the silence had returned to them once again; each of them sporting a look that wasn't quite readable by the others. Danny, Chin and Kono were the first to recover from the shock and turned to stare at Steve, as he continued to stew, his eyes telling a million stories. In his eyes, his team could tell he was weighing his options, battling internally, and failing.

"Oh man, I don't like the look on your face," Danny said as he shook his partner lightly. "It screams my name is Steve and I want to shoot something, anything, right now!"

"I don't have a look," Steve said as he shook his head to clear it, finally removed his hand from his weapon, and turned back to the table where everything was spread out.

"Alright, you don't have a look," Danny sighed and picked up the package of letter that he had returned to the table before seeing Wo Fat in their office.

"You're just going to let it go that easily?" Steve asked eyeing his partner.

"Let what go?" Danny asked, "The fact that Wo Fat, a man I get a totally suspicious vibe from, just walked into the palace like he owned the place and strolled into our office when he could quite possibly be the man responsible for everything that has to do with a lot of things?"

"No, the fact that I just argued that I don't have a look," Steve stated.

"You have a look, we all see it, but you can pretend you don't and we'll just go about our work," Danny said with a shrug, "are you just going to let Wo Fat walk in here and then leave again?" he asked.

"I can't hold him on anything," Steve said, anger flashing in his eyes.

"And this is a public office, he technically can come in here if he wants too," Kono added.

"I feel dirty because he was here," Danny stated. "He has violated our realm."

"So do I," Steve admitted, "but what is worse is that he may actually be telling the truth and I really don't want to believe him."

"He told the truth during out previous case," Chin said.

"But I don't want to trust him," Steve sighed, "I want to hate him, I do hate him, and yet he may be an asset to this case." He added as he motioned to the miscellaneous items spread out on the smart table. "How did he know about the stuff that is here?"

"He didn't really tell us anything we didn't already know," Chin said with an almost philosophical tone.

"He gave us more questions," Danny stated drumming his fingers on the edge of the table. "What kind of a service would Kat pay him? Why would she be connected with a mainland mob family?"

"All good and valid questions," Chin said as he phone rang.

There was silence as Chin answered the incoming call, the look on his face changing from concern to confusion and then to disbelief.

"Thanks Max," Chin said into the phone and then ended the call.

"What did our favorite medical examiner have to say?" Danny asked trying to interpret the look on Chin's face.

"He said the bullet that killed Kat did not come from her gun," Chin said.

"That makes me even more right," Danny said as he pursed his lips and pulled the murder investigation up on the smart board. "So her weapon was fired, we know that it was missing one round, but everyone assumed that the bullet in her head was from that weapon. So where is her bullet?"

"Where is the murder weapon? That is a better question." Kono said.

"Maybe if we find the bullet, we'll find the person attached to the murder." Steve said hesitantly.

"You think Kat shot her attacker?" Danny asked.

"If she didn't then we need to investigate the scene and find her bullet. If she did, then we need to investigate the scene for a second blood contribution." Kono stated.

"So I suppose we're putting the black box case on hold, once again, to head back to the scene of Kat's murder?" Danny asked as he watched Steve's thoughts drift away from the case they were talking about to the other items on the smart table.

"Danny, you take Kono and go back to the scene. You're the one that has been making all the breaks in that case," Steve said eyeing the three bullets from the black box case. "I'm going to head over and visit with Max," he added as he picked up the evidence bags and pocketed them. "Chin, run these prints and see if you can come up with anything." He said handing over the print cards from the black box case, "Also, find out whatever you can about the Valentellas in Hawaii and in Chicago. If you need the governor, call me and we'll get her onboard."

"I'm on it," Chin stated, took the evidence and headed off to his office.

"Guess you're riding with me rookie," Danny smiled and twirled his keys on his finger before Kono.

"Nah, I'm taking the Camaro, you're riding with Kono," Steve said as he held out his hand for Danny's keys.

"Oh burn!" Kono stated with a laughed as she walked off to her office to get her field kit.

"Get your own fuckin Camaro," Danny hissed his hands on his hips.

"I have a truck, I don't need a Camaro," Steve stated still waiting for Danny's keys.

"Then drive your truck!" Danny hissed.

"You gave me a ride this morning; I don't have my truck, so I need to take your car. Now hand over the keys before I fight you for them." Steve smiled.

"Here boss," Kono said as she peaked around Danny and tossed the Camaro keys at Steve.

"Hey, what hell, did you just pick my pockets?" Danny asked.

"Sure did," Kono smiled.

"Girl's got street smarts," Steve smiled and walked out of the office.

"You can drive if it will stroke your ego," Kono stated as she held out her own keys to Danny.

"I don't wanna drive your girly car," Danny sulked as he followed Kono out of the office.

"Fine then, carry my kit, honey." Kono joked and pushed the field kit into Danny's arms. "Momma's gotta wear the pants in this relationship." She teased and walked out of the office.

"Seriously…?" Danny asked the thin air, as he sighed and followed, shaking his head. "How did I walk into that?"


	4. Bang, Bang He Shot Me Down

**A/N Thanks go out to everyone reading this story. I know there are a few of you. I was debating on whether or not I should carry on with this story cause I've gotten so little responce on it but the plot and the characters just wont leave me alone so I will be finishing it if only to please myself.**

**I was going to write some whump into this chapter but it ended up being a close call. Sorry about that, I'll try harder next time.**

**The title of this chapter is from a Cher song, and kinda has a double meaning for this chapter. You'll just have to read it and see if you can get the meanings. The exact lyric I have stuck in my head, and that inspired the chapter, is: **

_**Bang, Bang. He shot me down. Bang, bang. I hit the ground. Bang, bang. What an awful sound. Bang, Bang. My baby shot me down.**_

Chapter 4: Bang, Bang, he shot me down

Danny sulked the whole way to the crime scene, while Kono smirked to herself. She knew she had gotten the upper hand. Danny, and the whole team for that matter, was feeling quite out of their element all day. Things hadn't gone quite as any of them had planned and the mood has been like a dark cloud over all of their heads since the sun had risen that morning, but Kono was young and vibrant, and she couldn't let the opportunity pass her by. She wanted the normalcy of the cat and mouse game that they always played with one another and if Danny had to be the one to be teased, as a way to lighten all of their moods, then she was going to do it. He didn't see things quite that way, at the moment, but he would eventually. It was all in good fun, and at least his thoughts had been redirected from everything else that had been going on.

They arrived at the office, still cordoned off by yellow hazard tape, and they stared for a moment from their parking space out front. Kat's office had yet to be released, as the investigation was still ongoing into her murder, and the bonds business she ran had been taken over and relocated for the time being. The underground gym was deserted, as it belonged to the same building as the bonds office and the crime scene. A pack of flowered leis, cards and candle had been laid out, at the closed gym entrance, in a make shift memorial for the woman who had fallen to the violence of the islands. Mourners still came, lit new candle and laid out new flowers daily and as Kono and Danny pulled up they noticed another group, made up of men in dark business suits and of Asian descent, laying a wreath among the flowers and glancing suspiciously up at the bond office. They waited a moment, giving the mourners time to lay their offering before they became suspicious.

"Time to move along gentlemen," Danny said as he and Kono exited their vehicle and walked toward the stairs that led up to the bonds office.

"Wouldn't go up there if I were you," one of the men stated his accent thick and his eyes set.

"You're crime scene has been compromised," another added.

"Been watching two thugs rummage around, they popped the window out of its casing and the smaller of the two scurried in and let the bigger one in through the door." The first one stated.

"Why didn't you call the police," Danny asked setting the field kit down and drawing his weapon.

"We did," the first man stated. "They haven't arrived yet."

"Who do we look like?" Danny asked.

"Five-O," the first man answered, "not going to wait for backup?" he asked as he watched Danny nod to Kono and they motioned for the men to move away.

"If you've already called the police, backup's on the way." Danny said and began mounting the stairs.

"Be careful Detective Williams, they looked like they were armed and quite determined," The first man said in hushed tones as he and his partner began to move around the back of the building.

Danny and Kono moved cautiously up and across the balcony of the building as the men below moved into the parking lot and around the side of the building, but did not leave. Danny crouched down beside the window to pass underneath it as Kono looked over her shoulder and inside the office space. Kono could see the smaller of the two men sifting through files as Danny stood and looked over his shoulder into the other side of the office space, he could see the other thug pulling at the couch cushion and tearing them apart clearly looking for something. Danny gave Kono a silent count down before bursting through the door.

"Freeze, Five-O!" Danny yelled as he and Kono rushed into the office space.

One man froze, clearly shocked to have been caught, but the second, the larger drew his weapon, fired at random and bolted, crashing through a back door before Danny or Kono could react. Suddenly there was the loud popping of gun shots and silence from the back of the building.

"You ok?" Danny asked as he and Kono had ducked when the gun around them had started going off.

"Yes," Kono stated as she listened for a moment, and watched the first man come too his sense and pull out his own weapon, "Put it on the floor and show me your hands!" Kono stated; both her weapon and Danny's trained on the first man now.

"Don't move," Danny stated to the smaller man who had placed his hands behind his head and Kono cuffed him.

Slowly they left the first fugitive and moved cautiously to see what had happened. On the back balcony, hunched over the railing, almost ready to fall over, was the larger of the two men. Blood dripped down from his upper body to the parking lot below. In the lot the two business men stood, weapons drawn as the sounds of police sirens could be heard in the distance.

"You're aware I'm going to have to confiscate those weapons," Danny said looking down at the business men as Kono checked the victim and determined he was dead.

The two Asians nodded, lowered their weapons to the ground and put their hands in the air.

"It sounded like you needed a little backup," One of the Asian business men shouted from down below. "He would have gotten away."

"We heard shots fired and when you didn't follow we assumed the worst," the second man stated.

"Yeah, thanks," Danny sighed as the first police vehicle pulled into the back parking lot. "Talk to those guys," he added as the two business men turned and put their hands above their heads for the HPD officers.

Kono walked back into the office to find the smaller of the men still pawing around in the mess of couch stuffing the littered the floor of the office.

"What are you doing?" she asked aiming her weapon at him once again and stopping him dead in his tracks.

The man shrugged.

"Oh you are in big trouble," Kono stated, grabbed the guy by the cuffs and pulled him out to the awaiting HPD officers, "Wait till my boss and his partner lay into you." she added as a threat and handed him off to the awaiting officers.

"What was he looking for?" Danny asked, when Kono had returned with her field kit, and he spun in a circle looking at the disorder that now lay around him.

"I don't know," Kono sighed, "but our beautifully preserved crime scene is ruined."

"We have documentation of what it looked like before it was disturbed so don't worry. Now you have a second crime scene to document," Danny smiled wickedly, "because, clearly we missed something before."

"Something of either high value or great importance," Kono said and looked around just as lost as Danny was in the mess of couch stuffing and scattered files.

"You get started, and I'll get the rest of our crew out here," Danny sighed, gave a sympathetic look to Kono and walked to the door.

"Does this mean you aren't mad at me anymore for my pants comment?" Kono smiled teasingly.

"No, baby girl, cause I'm pretty sure you're going to hate me when I leave you to all the work!" Danny winked and mockingly blew her a kiss.

"Watch yourself Williams," Kono stated but couldn't help laughing.

**Did you get the chapter title and the two little references? Anyway, this chapter was inspired by that song and I hope that it was exciting enough. Till next time!**

**For those of you who don't like the Danny/Kono pairing, don't worry. This is not a Danny/Kono story, I just love their playfulness that we are starting to see in the show and wanted to play on that.**


	5. Life 1 Chicago 1959

**A/N Hello Everyone Thanks for reading, and so sorry it took soo long for this update to be posted. I haven't been able to log in for two days! It was starting to freak me out.**

**Anyway, I feel like this chapter needs just a little explanation. There will be nine chapters like this one in the story. They are the story within the story and so that is why they are written a little differently. **

**Well I hope you enjoy this story twist. Tell me what you think~ Thank again for spending time reading my stories, it means the world to me.**

Chapter 5: Life #1 Chicago 1959

_My earliest memories are neither good, nor bad, but quite normal. I remember birthday parties and singing little songs in Italian that my Nona would sing when she watched me. I had a mother, her name was Maria and a father, his name was Alonzo. I remember mother calling him Al and Father called her Maria, Maria, always singing her name. I had three older brothers, Giovanni, Ricky and Carlo. Giovanni was my favorite. He was older than me by nearly twelve years and looked at me like I was a little gem. Ricky and Carlo were different, they were boys, boys and I was stupid little sister. They loved me enough, I'm sure, but they would never say it to my face. On the street no one dared come near me when Ricky and Carlo were around. They stood up to all the older kids, pushed and shoved them when they picked on their little sister. But, in our own home, they picked on me, when it was just us. I suppose I was a pain in the ass, but I was their pain in the ass. I also had one older sister whose eyes were just like my mothers, and whom everyone called Bella. I remember being very little and having Bella comb my hair. She was the oldest of all of us, sweet tempered, my father's rose. I remember the white dress in her closet. The joys around her and the man that came to see her often, he was a favorite with my father. She was still in school, only a year older than Giovanni, but ready to be married as soon as she graduated from high school. I remember the day she was supposed to be married, July 24, 1959, my birthday but not her wedding day._

_Bella died in 1959 while on her way home from school. It was early in the spring, maybe April, maybe May. There was a black car parked outside our house. It was suspicious. At the time I didn't know what suspicious meant, I was only five, but I remember Ma calling Father and telling him she was worried. Nona made calls as well, but I didn't understand her when she spoke in her flawless Italian. It was so fast and so lyrical that I admired it and later in life I learned it myself, but I can't remember the words she spoke then. I don't know what my father replied but it didn't make my mother any less worried and Nona only became angry. Ma and Nona pulled me into the center of the house, away from the windows and doors and locked everything they could. Nona prayed passionately to the Virgin Mary to protect us from the violent sinners of the world._

_We heard the first shots ring out, heard the screams of my brothers and then the sirens. I was only five and saw death for the first time on the street in front of my house. Bella lay in a pool of her own blood and the black car was gone. Moments later my Father and the men that followed him everywhere, Uncle Bobby and Uncle Artie as I called them, pulled up. _

_I'll never forget the argument between my father and the police officer. It was heated, I didn't understand what was going on, but Ma and Nona both sat on the steps crying. I didn't understand why Bella wouldn't get up, why they put a sheet over her, why she was taken away in a white van that screamed like the police cars. My father vowed revenge, I didn't know what revenge was, but the word stuck in my head as he yelled it over and over to the police officers on our street. They tried to calm him down but I saw hated and violence in my father for the first time that I could remember._

_We moved from that neighbourhood shortly after that incident. The new house was bigger, had a huge gate and men that guarded the house with big guns all the time. Bella was never talked off after that. I never knew why none of her things came with us to the new house, but her man was constantly with my father after that point. He became like a fourth son to my father, and although he was kind to me, I didn't like the way he looked at me._


	6. Friends in High Places

**A/N, Good evening everyone. So, because I was once again unable to log into the site all day, when this opportunity arose, I had to post again. Hopefully the glitch is resolved now and I'll be able to keep the updates coming. Thank you to everyone that is reading this story.**

**Sorry this chapter is so short, its a go between chapter. But I like the franticness in it, and it leads Steve to a nice 'conversation' with Danny and a little 'interogation' to come soon. And if you follow my stories already, you know i love me a little 'interogation'. Stay tuned for that. Its on its way!**

**As usually, i don't own anyone, but because the show just finished for the night, i felt like playing with the characters a little bit. CBS owns and i promis to return them relatively unharmed.**

Chapter 6: Friends in High Places

McGarrett put the diary down on his desk as his cell rang. The office was quiet; Chin was working hard when Steve had returned from his visit with Max, and Steve wasn't prepared to interrupt the progress of Chin's investigation. Instead, McGarrett walked into his office, after scooping the files and the diary off the smart table, and settled in to do a little research.

Max had been able to retrieve the bullet from Kat's brain, in his autopsy, and McGarrett had collected it once again to place with the bullets he was holding onto. He wanted them all matched and run through every law enforcement database there was out there, and he knew that if anyone could find the more minute connection or traces of evidence on these bullets it was Max. Steve gave Max every line he could think of, every compliment and puzzle piece that might peak Max's interest in the bullets, and soon had convinced Max to take time out of his busy schedule to analyze the bullets, paying for everything out of the Five-O budget. Steve handed the evidence over to the medical examiner with the challenge of the puzzle and Max devoured the idea, heading off to his lab immediately, without giving Steve a second thought and Steve knew to leave the eccentric ME alone.

Back in his office, Steve had settled in for a long, tedious evening of sore thumbing, familiarizing himself with the cast of characters within the files and trying to piece together whatever connections he could, but the diary had captured his attention within the first moments of his investigation and held him captive until his phone rang.

"Thank you for returning my call Governor," Steve said into his phone after the second ring.

"I managed to get everything you asked for, but it wasn't easy," Governor Jameson stated harshly, "Tell me again why you feel the need to investigate a case out of Chicago? I hired you to protect Hawaii."

"This is all tied to Hawaii, I know it is, I just need more information," Steve stated.

"I thought you were investigating Katherine Smith's murder," Jameson said passionately.

"We are," Steve sighed, "we think it's bigger than we initially thought. Things are not looking good."

"Alright, keep me posted, the files will be dropped off to you shortly." Jameson sighed.

"Thank you governor," Steve said and ended the call. A moment later, just before he could pick up the diary again, his phone rang for a second time.

"What do you have, Danny?" McGarrett asked in the way of an answer to the call.

"One dead body, one suspect in custody, one ransacked crime scene and two Asian good Samaritans," Danny answered.

"Come again?" Steve asked as he jumped up, grabbed his uniform blazer and bolted for the door.

"You heard me," Danny stated.

"Come on Chin," Steve called at the door to the older man's office. "We have another crime scene."

"HPD are transporting our suspect, crime lab is arriving as we speak to process the crime scene again, and the coroners office just showed up to pull our dead body off the balcony. Max does not look pleased to be here." Danny stated as Chin and Steve moved swiftly through the palace and out to the waiting Camaro.

"The Balcony, how did you manage that?" Steve asked.

"Wasn't me, it was the good Samaritans." Danny answered.

"Are you and Kono alright?" Steve asked seeing the worry in Chin's face.

"We're fine, the Samaritans warned us when we got here," Danny stated. "We aren't sure what the suspects were looking for, but they were hard at work and didn't hear us coming. The two Asians told us to watch our backs. They knew we were Five-O, not surprisingly, and they had already put in a call to HPD. But I don't quite trust these guys. Something's off here."

"Why do you say that?" Steve asked.

"I'm sure I've seen these guys before," Danny said. "I think they are Wo Fat's thugs."

Steve exchanged a look of worry and discontent with Chin before they both fell into the awaiting Camaro.

"We're on our way," Steve stated, hung up and pulled the Camaro out into the street, the engine struggling against his forcefulness.


	7. Seek and Ye Shall Find

**A/N Hello Again, yes this is the third update in three days! Thank you to everyone who is reading this story!**

**So the reason I'm trying to make some headway on this story is mainly because I have a stupid busy weekend coming up and I just don't think I'll have time to update. I may try and make time, but I have a huge concert on saturday with set up and tear down friday and sunday. So much to do still, and only 4 days to do it. So please enjoy the updates while they are fresh and hope you like the little moment Danny and Steve share in this chapter.**

Chapter 7: Seek and Ye Shall Find.

Once again the little bail office was a bee hive of activity when the silver Camaro pulled up in the dwindling daylight. Blue and Red emergency lights flashed all around them. Max was following a body into the back of a waiting ambulance. The Honolulu Police vehicles were lined up blocking the front and the rear of the building and all the lights were on in the office that had been left dark for days. Danny came down the stair from the office as he watched his car come to a stop and Steve and Chin hopped out of it and sprinted toward him.

"Have you found anything yet?" Chin asked a field kit in his hands.

"No, Kono's going over the scene with CSI looking for anything and everything. They have more evidence now then we did before. They are taking everything. It's going to be a lot of cataloguing to sift through." Danny answered. "But then again, we need something to build a case on, so maybe the over abundance of evidence will help us out."

"I'll head in and see what I can do to help," Chin said as he walked past Danny and up the stairs, crossing the yellow police tape for the first time as he had not been involved in the first investigation, avoiding the office because he was too personally connected to the murder case.

"Should we really let him go in there?" Danny asked as he watched Chin climb the stairs.

"He needs to be apart of this, he wants to help," Steve said as he followed Danny's eyes.

"It looks like a bomb went off in there," Danny sighed as he turned away from the building and walked toward the Camaro.

"Where are you going?" Steve asked and followed his partner.

"I want to talk to you, but I don't want anyone to hear us, so I am going to my car where it will be quiet." Danny stated. "This is basic protocol with us, where is your mind tonight?"

"It must be the uniform messing with my brain," Steve said and followed his partner.

Steve waited for a moment as he watched Danny circle around to the passenger side of the Camaro and fell into his usual seat, or rather his usual seat when Steve was present. He watched for a moment as the HPD officers questioned the two Asian business men. He watched the ambulance lights quiet and shut down as the vehicle pulled away from the curb and Max followed it in the black, Coroners, SUV that was his usual mode of transportation. He watched as Kono greeted her cousin at the door to the bond office, watched the shift in Chin's posture as he looked around the familiar space and something like anger and sadness came over him before he crossed threshold and walked in. Steve wondered if it was right, if it was proper, for Chin to have to see the scene of his friend's murder, but knew that this was a new crime scene, and he wouldn't have stopped Chin if he wanted too.

Danny leaned over, from his place in the passenger seat and leaned on the horn, startling McGarrett out of his thoughts and pulling him into the car where the conversation met him.

"Sorry," Steve said as he closed the door and settled in behind the wheel. "Do you want me to drive around the block; you prefer your rants in motion."

"That is very true, I do prefer my rants at break neck speeds, but this is not a rant." Danny said eyeing the building before him and still hushing his voice as if to ward off anyone that might want to try and listen to them.

"So what it is then?" Steve asked as he shifted slightly and looked Danny in the eyes.

"I know those Asian's were Wo Fat's men," Danny stated point blank.

"You're sure?" Steve asked.

"Same guys Wo Fat had with him at the scene of Chin's accident." Danny stated. "They addressed me as Detective Williams, they knew I was Five-O and I know they were with their boss when I questioned him that morning."

"And they were helpful?" Steve asked contemplatively.

"Very helpful, put two bullets in the suspect, killing him dead and making it impossibly for us to interrogate him," Danny stated angrily.

"But we still have the other guy," Steve said.

"That doesn't make shooting the guy on the balcony right, Steven," Danny hissed.

"Sounds like something I would do," Steve smiled.

"It is exactly something you would do!" Danny sighed throwing his hands up in front of him.

"What can you tell me about the suspects in the bond office?" Steve asked trying to tap into the detective side of Danny before their talk turned into a rant.

"Well, I took one look at them and felt like I was back in Jersey, if that means anything," Danny stated. "They were as Haole as I am, and trice as Italian."

"Did you just us a Hawaiian slang?" Steve asked a bright smile on his face.

"I've heard it enough," Danny sighed.

"You will be one of us, Danny, wait till Kono and Chin here this!" Steve laughed.

"Shut up Steve, and pay attention," Danny snapped his fingers before Steve's face, causing his partner to laugh even harder, "I'm being serious."

"I know you are," Steve smiled. "So they were more Italian than you?" he asked with a gleeful glint in his eye.

"Yes, if you really paid attention you'd know my mother is Italian, my father is Irish. So I'm half blood."

"So, are we looking at a turf war?" Steve asked.

"Oh god please let it not be a turf war," Danny sighed as he leaned back in his seat, covering his eyes with his hands. "They just end bloody, and I just don't want this to escalate to that. With you around I know I'll be getting shot."

"But that's what you are thinking right?" Steve asked.

"Yes, there is something between these two groups and we're digging the trenches for this war." Danny sighed.

"We'll stop it before it comes to that," Steve said and pushed open the driver side door and climbed out of the car.

"What are you doing?" Danny called after him.

"I'm getting out of the car, usually that signals the end of our conversations. Its protocol with us," Steve smiled and walked away from the Camaro.

Danny sighed to himself, leaning his head on the head rest and basking in the silence of the deserted vehicle. Steve's mood had definitely shifted in the short time they had spent in conference, which, in turn, changed Danny's mood. He knew that within the hour they would be stuck in a tiny interrogation room with the one living suspect and Steve with all the insanity of his mind running rapid.

"God, please don't let McGarrett make this any worse than it is." Danny asked his eyes toward heaven as he exited the vehicle and followed his partner back to the crime scene and their team members.


	8. Water Torture

**A/N Hello everyone. Thanks for reading and Alerting.**

**Well my crazy weekend has ended, which mean I can now post and write more of my stories. I hope to get a lot done this weekend as its Easter and we get a bunch of time off. For now, please enjoy the first interogation that Danny and Steve get to run in the case. These are my favorite scenes to write and although there isn't any Danny and Steve whump in this chapter, their fugitive gets it.**

Chapter 8: Water Torture.

Steve walked into the interrogation room. It was dark, the lights were dim and the windows were high on the wall lending to the intimidations that were about to occur. It was starting to get late. Steve and Danny had stayed with Kono and Chin at the crime scene for what seemed like hours, making no progress into the case, when Chin finally told them to get back to HQ to interrogate the one remaining suspect. Steve's eyes lit up, a grin spread across his face, as he drove the Camaro through the streets of Honolulu.

Danny had not liked the change in his demeanor. He knew that his partner was planning something, something insane, but Steve was silently contemplating his next move and no matter how many times Danny asked him what his plan was, there came no response from the Super SEAL who was still dressed in his Navy uniform.

After another hour of ranting on Danny's behalf and Steve only half listened, Steve lead the way into the interrogation room where the suspect has been waiting for hours. In his hands Steve carried two buckets of water and behind him Danny walked in with two more buckets. In the middle of the room sat their first suspect of the case. He was handcuffed, with his arms around the back of the chair, and he seemed to be dozing. Danny and Steve exchanged looks, they hoped that he had information into the case and he only looked up when the buckets were plopped onto the floor and the water splashed around in them.

"Can't you see that this space is occupied," The fugitive stated as he eyed the buckets. "Go clean another room and come back after my lawyer gets me out of here."

"You're funny," Danny stated as he began to pace by the wall.

"What was the point of breaking into a crime scene?" Steve asked looked at the young man before him.

"It was a dare," The fugitive stated.

"You were dared to go into an active crime scene and ransack the place?" Danny asked sarcastically.

"Pretty much,"

Steve and Danny exchanged looks again. Danny nodded and Steve bent over, grabbed the fugitive's foot, pulled off his shoe, his sock and rolled up his pant leg.

"Dude, I'm not that kind of guy," The fugitive said as he began to squirm.

"Neither am I," Steve said, pulled a bucket over to the fugitive and slammed his foot into the freezing cold water.

"What the hell are you doing?" The fugitive yelled as he felt something circle around his foot in the bucket. It was dark enough in the interrogation room, and the buckets were black, but there was definitely something in the water.

"I wouldn't try anything too frantic," Danny stated, "the fish in that bucket is pretty darn hungry."

"And they are attracted to movement," Steve said.

"Sharp teeth too," Danny said and the smile could be heard on his voice, but he kept his face from showing his amusement.

"And when they bite, they don't let go," Steve added.

"And if you kick the bucket away, we have three more where that came from and we'll just put the fish that you liberate from its water, into the next bucket. So one will become two, and so on and so forth," Danny said nearly in a sing song kind of voice.

"And if by chance you manage to kick over all of the buckets of water, well we'll just put the fish in your shirt," Steve said, "and by that time they'll really be pissed off."

"So I would stop squirming, start answering our questions and pray that our piranhas don't strike." Danny said coming within inches of the fugitives face.

"My foot is in a bucket with a fuckin piranha?" The fugitive screamed.

"Yup," Danny and Steve said in unison.

"Hope you don't have any open sores, they like those," Steve added as he pulled a chair from in the corner and sat himself down right in front of the fugitive. "Are you ready to talk?"

"The sooner you talk to us, the sooner you're foot can be a foot and not fish food." Danny added as he crossed his arms and stood beside his partner.

"Who the hell are you guys?" The fugitive asked, his voice a high pitched squeak now as his eyes misted up and he began to sweat profusely.

"Five-O," Steve said. "Who are you?"

"Where the hell did you get piranhas?"

"Tropical fish and pet supplies," Danny answered, "who are you?" he echoed Steve's question.

"My name is Johnny Dillinger," the fugitive stated.

"Funny," Danny stated, "it's time for the other foot, Steven."

Steve reached down, pulled the second shoe and sock off the squirming fugitive, and pulled the second bucket over. "Oh man, this one's huge Danno," he said as he looked into the dark, water of the bucket.

"I named that one Tiny," Danny smiled.

Steve laughed, pulled up on the fugitive's pant leg and slammed his foot down into the bucket.

There was a second of intensely uncomfortable silence before a shriek rang out in the interrogation room and tears filled the fugitive's eyes.

"Should have called that one Bitey," Steve laughed.

"Who are you?" Danny yelled into the side of the fugitive's head.

"Michael Vito," the fugitive sobbed.

"What were you looking for in that office?" Steve asked.

"The bullet," Michael answered.

"Did you find it?" Danny asked.

"No."

"Who do you work for?" Steve asked.

"Capone, Vincenzo, he was calling the shots," Michael stated, "Please, get this thing off me," he cried as the teeth of the flesh eating fish dug deeper into his toe.

Steve kicked the bucket over. The fish had latched itself onto the fugitive's big toe and it flapped around, tearing at the flesh, as it struggled against the air. Finally it dropped off Michael's toe and Steve scooped it up and threw it into one of the other waiting buckets.

"Who was your partner at the crime scene?" Danny asked as he resumed his pacing.

"Vinny," Michael stated his other foot still nearly knee deep in the first bucket as blood pooled around his bitten foot.

"Why is the bullet important?" Steve asked.

"I don't know, I'm low level, I just do as I'm told." Michael stated.

A look of deep thought crossed Steve's face before he reached out; grabbed Michael's rolled up pant leg and hoisted his foot back out of the bucket.

"You got all you want from this guy?" Danny asked as he watched Steve stare into the eyes of the trembling, bleeding, fugitive.

"You see what crime has done to you?" Steve asked Michael before Danny could speak again.

"And I thought the mob was insane," Michael sighed, his head swimming, sweat rolling down his temples as if the water had been poured over his head.

"You are going to jail. When you get out, I suggest you clean up your act, go back to school and be a productive member of society. Do you understand what I am telling you?" Steve asked.

"Yes Sir," Michael stated lowering his eyes to the floor.

"Yeah, Danny, I've got all I wanted out of this kid," Steve said, tossed the steal chair against the opposite wall, it crashed into the cinder block and settled in the corner on its side as Steve walked out of the room, ordered the awaiting HPD officer to take over with the fugitive and waited for Danny to burst with curses over the lack of protocol.

"That was creative," Danny said as he walked past Steve and down the hallway.

"Really, that's all?" Steve asked walking after his partner.

"You still have four live piranhas in your custody and I don't want to find them in my bathtub or something like that, so yeah, that's all I got." Danny stated.

"You don't want to keep Bitey?" Steve asked with a grin.

"His name was Tiny, and no, I want you to take those fish back to the pet store." Danny stated.

"Alright I will," Steve smiled.

"And don't act all proud of yourself," Danny stated wagging his finger in front of his partners face, "what you did in there was insane."

"I know," Steve said with a sigh.

"Alright, just as long as you can admit it," Danny said and walked into his office.

**A/N p.s Who is excited about tonights new episode of 5-0? I know I am! I hope Diddy is good!**


	9. Let the Evidence Speak

**A/N Just killing time before the new episode starts. So here is another chapter for today. Hope you enjoy it. Thanks for reading.**

**I don't own any of these guys!**

Chapter 9: Let the Evidence Speak

The next morning Danny walked into the Five-O bullpen, dressed in his usual button down shirt, tie and slacks, with his favorite Italian leather loafers and a steeping hot cup of Kona coffee, to find Steve standing in the doorway to his office as two workers fussed over something in the corner. All of the furniture had been moved around the Seal's office, some of it rested just outside of the door way, but it would soon find its way back in.

"Kona coffee?" Steve asked as Danny handed him the second cup he was carrying.

"Is there any other kind?" Danny asked. "I give the islands that, it is the best coffee I have ever had."

"We're growing on you," Steve smiled and turned back to his office.

"What the hell is that?" Danny asked eyeing the monstrosity that had taken up residence in the corner of the Super SEALs secret lair.

"I decided I wanted a fish tank," Steve answered nonchalantly, his blue t-shirt matching the artificial backdrop to the tank. "People swear that they are calming and you tell me all the time that I need to calm down."

"You are not keeping the piranhas!" Danny stated.

"No, they are too high maintenance, you have to feed them meat, but I did get a shark for this tank." Steve said happily. "I named him Danno."

"I'm sure Grace will love to check out your Danno shark the next time she comes into the office, but I'm not sure if I should take that as a compliment or an insult." Danny laughed and turned away from his partner, heading toward his own office. "But you are right; you do need to calm down. I'm glad you were paying attention."

"I got a starfish that I'm calling Gracie," Steve said, a child like grin on his face as he turned and followed Danny.

"Where are Kono and Chin?" Danny asked as he fell into his desk chair and watched as Steve leaned in his doorway.

"They are at the crime scene, gone back this morning." Steve said. "You are talking about the real Kono and Chin right? Because I have a Kono fish and a Chin fish too, if you want to see them."

Danny through his head back in laughter at the big oaf in his doorway, "I'll pass for now, but when this case is over I'd love to get to know your new fishy family, but what, no Steve fish?"

Steve grinned, passed into Danny's office and sat down in one of the chairs before his desk, "nah, but I do have a puffer fish that I was going to call 'SEAL'."

"Close enough," Danny laughed, booted up his computer and leaned back in his chair, sipping his hot coffee. "So what's the plan for today?"

"I don't know Danny," Steve sighed and stared off into the blue sky just outside of Danny's office window.

"You've got that look going on," Danny stated leaning his elbows on his desk.

"Which one is that?" Steve asked.

"The one that says my head is swimming and I don't know how to resurface and I'm frustrated because I'm a great swimmer." Danny said with a hint of sarcasm.

Steve looked away from the window, saw the concern and amusement on his partners face and rolled his eyes, "we have all this evidence, all these files and all these cases that could all be connected or not connected at all, but none of it is falling into place."

"What's the evidence telling you?" Danny asked.

"Well, more than before, that Kat was murdered," Steve answered.

"The evidence told me that, and then I told you that. I want you to come up with an original, one hundred percent Super SEAL thought on this case," Danny said.

"Kat was in the middle of something," Steve said.

"I agree," Danny said encouragingly.

"I don't want to say that she lied to us…" Steve added.

"But we didn't know her long enough to really know her." Danny finished his partners thought.

"Exactly," Steve said as he moved to sit on the edge of his seat. "Is that a horrible way to be thinking with the woman now dead? I feel like it's horrible."

"It may be a little disrespectful, but in this case, we need to know the truth," Danny said watching Steve cautiously. "This feelings thing is really getting to you, isn't it?"

"I'm used to plans, operations, orders, and tactical maneuvers, just get the job done and save lives." Steve sighed. "It's the training; it was the job in the navy. This being a cop is so much different. Emotionally, it's harder."

"We have had a break through!" Danny shouted as he through his arms in the air. "Thank you Jesus! Maybe now I'll be able to rush into a building with you and not worry about the fact that you haven't thought about the people around you getting shot!"

"That's not likely," Steve smiled.

"A guy can hope. I'll break the brainwashing one of these days; make you think like a real detective." Danny sighed. "Because that is what you have to be now."

"And I'll get you to parachute out of an air plane at 60000 feet," Steve joked.

"I've been sky diving before," Danny said with a shrug.

"What?" Steve gasped.

"Yeah, it was for my cousin's bachelor party. It was pretty exhilarating." Danny smiled. "I'd do it again."

"Man, you think you know a person…" Steve said shaking his head.

"Sorry to burst your bubble. Maybe you should stick with trying to get me to like the islands," Danny joked.

"You love it here," Steve hissed as the door to the offices opened and Kono and Chin walked in.

"No, I do not," Danny said as he and Steve stood and met the other members of their team in the openness of the bullpen, both he and Steve sipping their coffees.

"We found it!" Kono practically sang waving a plastic evidence bag in front for Danny and Steve's faces.

"We have to run it against Kat's gun," Steve smiled as he eyed the shiny bullet in the evidence bag.

"Where did you find it?" Danny asked.

"It was a hard one to find." Chin said as he leaned against the smart table and pulled up a copy of the bail offices blueprints. "We found the bullet here," he said as he pointed at the opposite end of the room from where Kat had been found. "From what I can tell, and the additional residue that we located, the bullet ricocheted off the steel casing of the window and landed smack in the middle of her bookshelf."

"Right inside a copy of _A Tale of Two Cities_," Kono stated as she placed a beige envelope on the desk and pulled the book out of its own evidence bag.

"The body was moved," Steve stated under his breath as he looked down at the smart table and the blueprints of the office.

"Come again?" Danny asked all eyes were on Steve now.

"Kat's body was moved. If the bullet was fired at the windows, then the person was standing between her and the door. We found her facing that bookshelf." Steve said.

"Unless she fired first," Kono stated.

Steve's eyes flash something like anger, or fear, before he snatched the bag with the bullet in it off the table. "I want this checked for DNA." He said.

"You think she hit her killer?" Chin asked. "You thought that before, but the bullet looks pretty clean."

"If there is something to find, Max will find it. I hope Kat got one good shot in, and I think she knew her killer." Steve stated and turned and walked out of the office with the evidence in his hand.

"I'll go after him," Danny said to the other two members of the team and rushed to follow Steve.

"We need to work on his sharing skills," Kono sighed, one hand on her hip.

Chin nodded and turned back to his blueprints, "Let's reconstruct the possible scenarios."

"Sounds like fun." Kono smiled and they both fell into the work.


	10. Slow Down

**A/N As always thank you for reading and I don't own anything. **

**Some people were asking for Whump... I feel I suck at writing it, but here is my try at a little to further my plot. Hope it worked out.**

**Enjoy**

Chapter 10: Slow Down

Steve had remained silent the whole drive. The local radio news reported another murder, a fraudulent internet scam and an attack on a tourist, but none of the stories seemed to interest him. His mind was else where; Danny on the other hand made a mental note on the events of the day as he stared quietly out the passenger side window.

They arrived at the medical examiners office to find Max busily staring down at the body on his slab.

"Been a busy morning Max?" Danny asked eyeing the body before them.

"It would seem so," Max stated and looked up his scalpel clutched in his hand. "You are aware that you are contaminating this sterile environment." He added discontent in his tone.

"The guy's already dead, Max, not like he's going to get any of our germs." Danny sighed.

"We'll get out of your hair, if you'll just take a look at another piece of evidence for us," Steve said pulling the bullet out of his cargo pocket.

"Add it to the never ending stack of work I don't actually do," Max said sarcastically. "I'm not an investigator, I'm a medical examiner. I do bodies, not bullets."

"Someone's snippy today." Danny stated the obvious.

"I'm sorry, I'm just at a loss," Max sighed, put down his scalpel and walked out of the medical bay. "I have a lot of work to do, and I'd like to know, why do I need to be the one examining your bullet fragments? That is what the forensics guys are for."

"Because I don't trust them as much as I trust you, Max," McGarrett said placing the bullet on the desk before the visibly exhausted medical examiner. "And I believe that there may be biological material on this bullet, so it is your domain."

"First you bring me multitudes of bodies, and now bullets?" Max sighed. "I'm flattered that you think so highly of me, but if your body count is going to be as high as it is, then I suggest you make friends with some of the CSIs or find yourself another ME."

"The guy on your slab isn't one of ours," Steve stated as Danny glanced back through the window at the body still on the medical examiners table.

"Actually he might be…" Danny said slowly as he turned and walked back into the room. "When did he come in Max?"

"This morning, shooting, downtown; witnesses say he was ambushed by two other men." Max stated.

"Why didn't I hear about this?" Steve asked eyeing the body with suspicion.

"You did, it was on the radio on the drive over." Danny sighed.

"But that doesn't mean he's one of ours." Steve said.

"Actually it does, he was one of our friendly firing guys from yesterday at the bonds office." Danny said recognizing the victim on the steal table.

"What have you done?" Max asked throwing his arms into the air.

"What do you mean?" Danny asked almost as exacerbated as Max.

"You've gone and started yourself a turf war." Max stated covering his face with his hands. "This guy is Yakuza. The last one I got from you yesterday was Mafia."

"Don't jump to conclusions," Danny said rolling his eyes.

"I don't jump to conclusions, I make them." Max stated angrily. "Leave the bullet, I'll run it for DNA when I have a moment." He added with a harsh wave of his hand, "and please don't come back here for at least two days, and don't send me anymore bodies."

"Ok," Steve said seeing the anger in Danny now and pulling him toward the door, "we owe you, Max, really and we appreciate all your had work." He called back as he pushed Danny out the office door.

Steve and Danny walked back toward the Camaro. The interview with Max hadn't gone exactly as Steve had planned and his silent, contemplative side, looked completely pissed off; in Danny's opinion.

"Alright spill it, you're pissed," Danny said as he walked around the Camaro to the passenger side and leaned on the roof.

"I'm not pissed; you're the one who's pissed. I saw the look you gave Max, it screamed I'm Danny Williams and I want to shoot Max right now."

"I did not look like I wanted to shoot Max!" Danny retorted.

"Alright then maybe it was constipation." Steve said sarcastically.

Danny rolled his eyes and then caught the glint just before the door to the vehicle beside them swung open and smashed into his partners back. Before he could say anything he was hit himself, from behind, and felt something hard slam into the back of his head and everything went black.

Danny wasn't sure how long he was out but when he came to he was lying on the ground beside the Camaro, his pockets turned out, his weapon dismantled and his wallet sprawled out on the pavement. He glanced under the vehicle and saw that Steve was also laying face down on the pavement. Slowly Danny got up, seeing sharp flashes of a halo before his eyes as the dizziness hit him. He moved around the car, in time to see Steve start to come to. The two vehicles that had boxed them in were long gone.

"Alright, that wasn't exactly how I planned to start my day." Danny said as he helped Steve get up and pull together his personal effects. "Did they take anything from you?"

"No, you?" Steve asked.

"No." Danny answered. "Did you see any of them?"

"I caught a glimpse of the guy that got you," Steve said and rubbed the back of his head.

"That's more than I got," Danny sighed and put his forehead onto the cool surface of the Camaro. "We had better take our stuff to forensics to see if they can lift anything off our weapons or wallets." He added shutting his eyes tightly.

"They wanted the bullet," Steve said as he got to his feet fully and looked back at the medical building.

"You want to check on Max?" Danny asked.

"Yeah," Steve said and the partners walked back into the office.

Max hadn't seen or heard anything. After the two Five-Os had left he had stashed the bullet with the others in his safe and went back to work. When Steve and Danny returned he rolled his eyes, but could tell that something wasn't right with the boys who hadn't left long ago.

"Can you just check on the bullets for us," Steve said rubbing the back of his head as Max followed them once again out of his exam room.

"There, they are where I left them," Max said as he leaned over his desk, spun off the combination on his safe and opened it to reveal their evidence incased in their evidence bags. "No one came in here." He added.

"Keep them locked up Max, someone wants them really bad and attacked two police officers in your parking lot to get them." Danny said.

"Are you sure that is what they are looking for," Max asked, "And not revenge for getting their guys shot?"

"This isn't a turf war!" Danny hissed feeling a shooting pain in his head once again.

"You want me to take a look at that, detective?" Max asked and watched as dizziness once again came over Danny.

"I'll be fine," Danny said and tried to push Max away as he flashed a pen light in Danny's eyes.

"You may have a concussion," Max said and without warning flashed his pen light in Steve's eyes as well. "You two should probably slow down today and take it easy."

"People are dying, we don't have time to slow down," Steve sighed, "Thanks again Max, and we'll come check on things a little later. Keep things locked up and we'll get you some more security."

"Under any other organization I would not need heightened security, but you Five-Os are trouble." Max stated shaking his head and walking back into his autopsy bay, "get your heads looked at, both of you, I think you're suffering minor concussions, but then again I usually don't deal with living patients."

"We will," Danny said as he walked around Max's desk, shut the little vault and spun off the combination.


	11. Life 2 Chicago 1972

**A/N This is the second in the life stories. I hope it works for everyone. I felt heart broken when I reread it. **

**Thanks for reading!**

Chapter 11: Life #2 Chicago 1972.

_I remember being very sheltered; my life was planned out and executed by my father and my brothers. They made sure I was always safe. After Bella was murdered, a word I learned years after it had happened, I was never left alone. I was taken to school in a big black vehicle, usually with my father at my side, and day in and day out it was always the same. I had very few friends that were not family friends; my parents didn't trust anyone, except for those in 'the family'. I went to school, I learned my lessons, I came home and I was taught the language of my grandparents. _

_In 1962 my Nona and I traveled to Sicily to meet my relatives and to be immersed into our culture and our family. It was a happy time, I remember feeling like I could have done anything; like a caged bird that was finally released. I wanted to stay there, to live out my life roaming the beaches, collecting seashells and eating the amazing food. I wanted to believe that Sicily was the most beautiful place in the world. _

_During that same trip I visited Roma, and the site on which the foundation of my faith had been laid. My Nona took me to mass in all of the cathedrals in Rome, we spent hours in St. Peter's Square and we watched with bated breaths for a glimpse at the Holy Father. It was in that time that my grandmother begged and pleaded with me to take orders. She wanted to save me from the horrors of the United States. At eight years old I didn't understand her. I wanted to see the world. Wanted to run along beaches and make friends with people that loved the sand and the sea as much as I had, but Nona sobbed and begged. I should have known she was right, or that her words would be a warning to me, but how could I at eight years old?_

_I cried crocodile tears on the day that my Nona loaded me onto a plane to take me 'home' to America. I was horrified of the routine that I would be pulled back into, but it was waiting just like the black Hurst of a car that picked us up in Chicago and drove me back to the compound that was my family estate. I was happy to see my mother, my father and my brothers, but there were others that were in the house and the guns were always around once again. I hadn't realized how prevalent they were in my life until I didn't see them in Sicily and Rome, but they were back and looming over my life. _

_I settled into the routine again, but I never stopped asking about Sicily and when I could go back. As I grew older I looked into the orders that my grandmother had suggest and realized that I would be captive once again by convents and rules. Being the bride of Christ seemed noble enough, and helping the poor, but it all felt to me like I would be a captive forever. I wanted freedom, and happiness. I wanted beaches and sunsets. I wanted to fall in love with someone._

_This was my life until 1972 when everything came crashing down. I had never thought that things could get worse. I was ready to open my heart to someone, to be a woman of the world, to gain a career and to do something with my life. I wanted to be a teacher back then. But, I was meant to be a captive._

_July 24 was my eighteenth birthday and the day my father told me he had chosen my husband. I know I was naïve to ever think that my life would be any different than that, but I had related with the captive princesses in story books and now it was even truer. My father had brought into my life, before Bella died, a man he trusted. His name was Giorgio Jacob Capone and he was the man Bella was supposed to marry. I believed he loved my sister very much. They were happy together. He was nearly her age, and was of a 'family' like ours. He became like a son to my father after Bella was killed and now, he was to really become his son-in-law. I was mortified. He was so much older then me. I had, had crushes on men of my own age, boys in grade school and seniors once I got to high school, but they were not of our caliber, my father would say, and I was kept in my ivory tower until that day that my father placed my hand in Giorgio's and promised me to him._

_I think the 'me' I had always known died on that day. I put on a fake smile; I walked through the boutiques with my mother. I picked out a traditional wedding dress, flowers, the food, my family was coming from Sicily and I just died a little every day. I had nightmares about the wedding; about being obedient to Giorgio, and I started to see Bella's death all over again. I looked in the mirror and no longer saw myself, but Bella the way I had remembered her. I had to get out. I wanted to break the glass of the mirrors and flee through the shards that scattered on the floor._

_The day of my wedding came, I was in the dress, my hair and my makeup was flawless, and all of my cousins were around me, and I wanted to die. I wanted to hang myself with the sash around my waist. I wanted to throw myself from the balcony but I couldn't, there were always people around. I would have to go through with it. Oh how the convent sounded good._

_The church that I was to be married from was huge, long and in the shape of a giant cross. The organ droned and I felt like it was my death knells tolling, and then something happened. I was left alone, in a chapel with the Virgin Mary, to wait for my father to take me to my husband. Mary looked down on me with eyes that were full of tears and I wanted to cry with her. Beside her there was a door that leads out into a garden that was filled with tall cedar shrubs that wound their way into the distance. And then I heard a voice, an unfamiliar voice, and it said run. And I did._


	12. Partners

**A/N: Thanks everyone for reading. Here is just a little go between chapter that is going to push the motion along to get to chapter 13 which has a big scene that just kinda happened unexpectedly. So enjoy and watch out!**

**I Don't Own Anyone...**

Chapter 12: Partners.

Steve stared blankly out the window of his office, the diary in his lap, his mind running through all of the time he had heard that unfamiliar voice telling him to run. He heard it so often that he wasn't sure it was unfamiliar anymore.

Danny and Steve had returned, after visiting the hospital as Max had told them too, to Headquarters where their team was waiting. Steve sulked off to his office to be alone and to try and let the headache subside in peace, while Danny joined Kono and Chin in the bullpen to go through their evidence. The case that was starting to develop, out of the three cases they seemed to be working, had coincidences that bound them together. The main coincidence seemed to be Kat, but they needed more to go on.

Steve stared between his window and calming movement of his fish when Danny walked in, plopped himself down in one of the chairs before Steve's desk and watched his partner for a long, silent, moment.

"Find anything good?" Danny asked as Steve shifted, placed the diary on his desk and rubbed his eyes to focus them.

"I think Kat changed her name," Steve said with a sigh.

"We figured as much." Danny smiled. "Chin's already searching through records for Katherine Valentella and Katherine Smith. I'm sure he'll find the official documented change of name. Kat was pretty by the book, I think."

"I don't blame her though," Steve said drumming his fingers lightly over the leather cover of the diary.

"Bad life?" Danny asked.

"So far," Steve sighed.

"But things got better for her right?" Danny asked looking serious now.

"Haven't gotten to that part yet," Steve said leaning back as his phone rang. "Please tell me its good news, Governor, I need some today." Steve said in way of greetings as he laid his cell on his desk and set it to speaker.

"FBI will be faxing over copies of their files from Chicago and Hawaii on the Valentella family," the Governor stated.

"Thank you," Steve sighed in relief.

"How are you? I've heard about your incident this morning and have authorized the heightened security for your medical examiner," Jameson stated.

"Danny and I are fine," Steve said, "checked out by a doctor and everything."

"I'll be expecting the bill," Jameson joked.

"Perks," Danny laughed and saw the smile that crossed Steve's face.

"What is going on boys?" Jameson asked sounding serious once again.

"We're not really sure yet, we need more information, but we have a few theories that we are working." Danny said as Steve raised an eyebrow to the latter part of Danny's comment.

"Theories?" Jameson asked.

"Yes," Danny said, caught the warning look that Steve shot at him, and then elaborated, "Max believes that we've started a turf war, but I don't think it's as serious as that. It may be a family feud, or a bad business deal, but not a turf war."

Steve sighed; Danny had no idea how close he actually was to the truth.

"Do you agree with Detective Williams, Steven?" Jameson asked.

"At this point, it's all we have Governor," Steve stated.

"And Kat is in the middle of this 'bad business deal'?" The Governor asked.

"I'm afraid so," Danny sighed.

"Find her killer, boys, she was a good woman. And protect Hawaii. That is all I am asking of you, and stay safe," Jameson said after a long silence in which Steve and Danny both thought the woman may have hung up or that the call had been dropped.

"We are taking every precaution," Steve said in way of trying to set the Governors mind at ease.

"Is that what you call getting pistol whipped in a parking lot?" Jameson asked.

"We're taking every precaution now," Danny corrected.

"Alright, keep me posted," Jameson stated.

"We will, thanks again Governor," Steve said, eyed Danny with relief, and ended the call.

"So, how about lunch," Danny asked as Steve leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes again, "and another couple of Tylenol?"

"Yes on both fronts." Steve said, pushed himself away from his desk and stood. "But I have to feed my fish first."

"Oh yes, that is very important," Danny laughed, "I'll get Kono and Chin." He added and left the office while Steve leaned over the fish tank and sprinkled in the dried shrimp flakes and watched as the fish rushed to the surface.


	13. Revelations Through the Pain

**A/N: Again, thanks for reading.**

**So, I was asked for Whump. I am trying to write Whump. I think I suck at it, but here's a little chapter that has some action, someone gets shot and Kono acts like the Queen Bitch of the Palace. I hope it saticfies the readers. If Not...I'm sorry.**

**Again, I don't own anyon.**

Chapter 13: Revelations through the Pain.

Lunch had not been the success that Steve had been hoping for. The headache that had taken its hold was being relentless even with the Tylenol that he had been prescribed and taken as ordered. Danny seemed fine, his wit and his excessive talking had carried the conversation through the short lunch break, but had done nothing for Steve's head. Kono and Chin sympathized with their commanding officer, Danny seemed oblivious to the pain that was visible in Steve's eyes, but there was a case to develop and Danny was on a roll.

They returned to the office, 45 minutes later, and each retreated to their own offices. The war room was deserted. The smart table was set to sleep mode and the lights were dimmed on account of the want to say energy and Steve's headache.

Steve sat quietly at his desk, watching the slow rhythmic movements of his new fish and listening to the silence that had developed around him when he closed himself away from the rest of the world. He had shut the blinds around his office, dimmed the light and refused to even look up at the computer; instead he sifted through files, organized his thoughts and prayed that his headache would go away.

Suddenly his phone began to vibrate, he had turned the ringer off, and as he looked at it Danny's Camaro flashed on the screen.

"What?" Steve asked rubbing his eyes and answering the phone.

"Don't move to quickly, and don't act like anything is wrong, but there are three guys in our war room and I don't recognize them. They look to be trying to access our system." Danny said in a hushed voice over the phone.

Steve pushed his chair toward the blinded window that looked out into the openness of the office. He parted the closed blinds slightly and saw what Danny was talking about. Two men, in black, huddled around the smart table and one other was sifting through a bank of filing cabinets that lined the back wall. He then looked across the space and saw that Danny was doing the same thing as he was in that moment.

"Do you have a visual on Chin and Kono?" Steve asked pulling his service weapon from his holster and moving toward the door.

"I got their attentions." Danny stated, "They see me."

"Do you see any weapons Danny?" Steve asked.

"I caught a glimpse of one semi automatic." Danny answered.

"Do you have your vest handy?" Steve asked. He had left his in the truck.

"No," Danny sighed. "Uh, Steve, we had better move, now." He added a hint of panic on his voice.

"Why?" Steve asked trying to see what had caused the panic in his partner's voice, while still trying to stay stealthy.

"The governor is about to walk in," Danny shouted and burst out of his office door yelling. "Stop right there! Drop your weapons!"

The governor fell back as Chin and Kono followed suit and blocked the way out of the five-O office space.

Steve reacted with his counter parts. He was on his feet, weapon drawn and out of his office before the men in black knew what they were doing. The weapons that the intruders were carrying were cocked and fired as Danny and Steve ducked and fired in return.

Kono and Chin has passed through the bullet proof glass and were listening as the bullets rang out in the office and off the glass that was now spider webbing as they rushed the governor and her security detail away from the glass doors.

"You're leaving McGarrett and Williams in there without cover, or their vests," The governor hissed frantically as she was rushed down the stairs and toward the lobby of the place.

"We're going back," Chin stated as he pulled a vest from another agents hands and threw it over his shoulders.

"We need you to be safe, and we need back up," Kono stated as she did the same and shouted orders to the armed officers that were now following her every move. "You three take the governor and get her to safety, the rest of you, follow us." She shouted and rushed back up the stairs.

"This wasn't the best idea Danny!" Steve hissed as they huddled, their backs against the base of the computer that made up the brains of their smart table.

"You wanted the governor shot?" Danny asked as he leaned out, fired two shots and then ducked back to where his partner was.

"No," Steve answered angrily, his head aching and his arm now throbbing as he twisted fired and returned to the sound of more shots ricocheting off the glass of the doors.

Suddenly the doors swung open and Chin and Kono burst in with a detail of what looked like every last officer in the Honolulu police department. The gun fire ended. The men in black lowered their weapons and were taken into custody as Steve inspected the throbbing pain in his arm.

"You've been shot," Danny stated seeing the blood seeping through the sleeve of Steve's t-shirt.

"It's not that bad," Steve said as he rolled his sleeve up and saw that he had merely been nicked and the hole in his garment proved it. "You have also been shot!" he stated as he eyed the blood pooling around Danny's leg.

"What else is new," Danny sighed rolled up his pant leg and flinched at the pain that suddenly shot through his body. "I hate you so much!" he growled at Steve at the sight of the entrance wound but no exit made him squirm even more.

"I wasn't the one who went in guns blazing on this one. You are the one that reacted to save the governor!" Steve hissed as he tied a band of his t-shirt hem around Danny's wound, and the governor entered the office as the fugitives were being hauled away.

"Here are your files, McGarrett." The governor said and eyed the two men who were still sitting, their backs to the base of the smart table and both of them bleeding; one worse than the other. "You should both go to the hospital." She stated.

"Are you alright Governor?" Danny asked ignoring the blood pooling around his leg.

"I'm fine, thank you Detective, but your office is destroyed, your leg is bleeding and I believe you partner is ready to tear you a new one," Jameson stated. "Where is your vest?" she asked eyeing the two men and their lack of protective gear.

"In my truck," Steve stated.

"Good place for it," Jameson stated a hint of sarcasm on her voice. "I'll get a forensics team in here," she added as a pair of paramedics rushed in once again with Kono and Chin.

"I think we broke your smart table Chin," Danny said apologetically as he glanced again at the shards of wood and metal that was around him.

"It can be replaced," Chin said as the paramedic pulled the scrap of McGarrett's t-shirt off Danny's leg and the Jersey Detective cursed in a language foreign to the Hawaiian native who poked and prodded at his wound.

"What language was that?" Chin asked with a laugh as Danny was hoisted into a chair and his leg was examined further.

"Italian," Danny stated cringing again.

"Are you fluent?" Steve asked surprise and shock on his face.

"Yes," Danny cringed again as the entrance wound was packed with gauze so he could be transported.

"That's convenient," Steve smiled as his wound was bandaged for transport as well.

"I've already been sifting through the letters we found in the box. There isn't anything in them that I have found, yet." Danny stated as he fought with the paramedics that tried to lift him onto a gurney. "I got it," He hissed and limped over to it and hoisted himself up onto it. "I'll get back to them as soon as I get some good drugs and this bullet is dug out of my leg."

The gurney was rolled out of the office, Steve followed with another paramedic as Kono and Chin were left alone in the disaster that once was the pristine office space.

"So what do we do now?" Kono asked as two CSI agents walked in and scanned the office.

"I guess we get our case and find somewhere else to work on it while this crime scene is investigated," Chin sighed.

"We can't take the case and leave," Kono said eyeing her cousin with a cautious, yet annoyed glance, "I'd bet a million bucks that's what those guys were looking for."

"Then, Detective Kalakaua, we had better get down to business and interrogate the suspect." Chin stated and he led the way out of the office.


	14. The Queen Bitch

**A/N Happy Easter Everyone One!**

**Thank you to everyone who has spent the time reading and alerting and reviewing this story. It really means a lot to me.**

**So sorry that it took a little while to get this chapter up, and by a little while I mean two days. Its been a crazy weekend and I've been distracted but here is a little Kono in her element or what I think would be her element. More to come soon. Hope you enjoy it.**

Chapter 14: The Queen Bitch

Kono and Chin walked into the first interrogation room where the man, who seemed to be the leader of the invasion operation, sat and awaited his fate. His associates had been bandaged up, and separated. No one suffered overly life threatening injuries, but the two other men had obtained gunshot wounds and were being detained as long as possible to play along with Kono's tactics. Refusing medical help would threaten the men into giving her all the information she wanted, but she wanted to go after the big fish first. Her Rookie days were coming to a close and with her cousin at her side, Kono was ready to seek revenge for the members of her team.

Kono and Chin hadn't even removed the vests, that they had hastily thrown on to head back into the battle, and the weight of the Kevlar vests and the anger at having the battle hit so close to their home was drawing on both of their last nerves. Chin had interrogated many suspects, but he could tell that the rookies mind was running on hyper drive. This was Kono's moment. She deserved it. She needed it and the fire, and the passion that flashed in her eyes begged for the opportunity to show her stuff. Chin, being already tired and still on edge from the battle, was perfectly content to let Kono take the lead.

The cousins had over seen parts of the investigation by the CSI squad, but were relieved to see that most of the damage was inflicted within the common area of the office. Their offices were relatively unharmed, but the war room literally looked like war had broken out.

Walking into the interrogation room, Kono saw the smug grin on the man's face, and felt her blood begin to boil. She needed to stay calm, to get the information she wanted, but she was pissed, Chin could see the anger, but Kono was doing a good job of hiding it from the baddie that sat before her.

"Do you really think it is wise keeping us here?" the man asked as Kono and Chin walked into the interrogation room.

"Do you think it was wise coming into our office space and shooting up the place?" Chin asked as he leaned in the shadows by the door.

"Or perhaps you were looking to cause harm to the Governor of Hawaii. Judging by your accent, I would hazard a guess that she could have you deported." Kono stated as she paced behind the man.

"I have been an American citizen for too long," the man chuckled.

"Then federal prison it is," Chin shrugged.

"For a very long time," Kono hissed into his ear.

"You can't hold me on anything," the man laughed.

"We have surveillance," Chin started.

"We have your weapons," Kono added.

"We have the bullet they will pull from Detective William's leg," Chin added.

"And all the artillery fire that is embedded in the wall of our office," Kono stated, "I believe that Lieutenant Commander McGarrett was also hit in the battle and we'll find that bullet as well."

"And I am almost willing to bet that we will be able to match those bullets to the bullets we already have in our possession," Chin smiled.

"Bullets?" the man asked.

"Yes, plural," Kono smirked, "any idea why we have more than one, Giorgio?"

Chin raised an eyebrow at Kono's comment.

The man began to squirm.

"It might be because we have another case, or it may be because we have evidence from another source," Kono stated haughtily as she walked in a circle around the man. "It could also be because Kat had been investigating you for years, YEARS, after she fled from you."

The man's face twisted in anger.

Chin smiled at his cousin.

"We have your marriage certificate," Kono smiled, "too bad you were left at the alter. Is that why you killed her?" Kono asked. "You just couldn't handle being stood up."

"I'm happily married," The man said grinding his teeth.

"I'm sure you are, to Maria, right?" Kono asked.

The man's eyes flashed like fire.

"Or wait, Maria was murdered, right, just like Bella and Angela." Kono smirked. "But now you are married to, Cassandra, and I'd guess that she doesn't know about your ties to the mafia, does she? Or she will, when we call her and tell her that her husband has been arrested for assaulting an officer, wait; make that four, and the Governor of Hawaii. And we'll just have to tell her that her husband is going to federal prison as his assault was taking place in the presence of the Governor so it looked like he was after her, and because he is suspected of Mob relations in this state and in Chicago. I'm pretty sure she's going to find out what you've been up to. Won't that be nice news for her and your new baby girl, what was her name Chin? Oh I think its Katherine."

"You will leave my wife and child out of this," Giorgio stated.

"Man, you go through women like crazy," Kono said as she paced before him, "but you just had to get back at the one that got away. That's why you wanted the bullet from the office wasn't it. It would prove that you were the one that was in the bonds office at the time of Kat's murder and it would bring out all of the links to the Valentella family."

"I wasn't in that office," Giorgio stated.

"Weren't you?" Kono asked. "I have hard time believing you."

"It wasn't from my gun," Giorgio smiled.

"Well, if it wasn't, we're still going to run your gun against the bullets that we have from other cases and see where that brings us, because I just have this funny feeling that you and Kat have some kind of history, I mean, she was supposed to marry you and getting left at the alter, that's gotta suck." Kono stated sarcastically.

Giorgio's eyes flashed in murderous rage, once again.

"So, I'm going to assume that you were in this office because you were seeking the bullet that was fired from Kat's weapon in the bond office on the night of her murder." Kono smiled. "Now, I don't know why you want that bullet. I mean if you shot her, wouldn't you want the bullet in her head in stead?"

"I didn't shoot her." Giorgio hissed.

"Oh so she shot you," Kono smiled, "that's why you wanted her bullet. Shall we do a full body search to see if you are scared from a bullet wound? I've can do that right now if you like," she added as she pulled a pair of rubber gloves out of her pocket and snapped the first one onto her left hand."

"You will not touch me." Giorgio stated. "I was not shot in the bonds office because I wasn't there."

"Then why, tell me, did you want the bullet so badly that you came to the Palace, broke into the Five-O headquarters and trashed our files and tired to hack our computer system?" Kono screamed in the man's face.

"Just following orders," Giorgio smiled.

"Whose orders were you following?" Kono asked.

"If you don't know, I'm not telling you," Giorgio smiled.

"You don't think I'll find out?" Kono smiled. "I mean I have both bullets from the crime scene at Kat's office. I have all the bullets fired in the Five-O office and I have several other bullets that I'm sure you didn't even think existed. Trust me, Giorgio, I'll take all of this as a challenge, I love the puzzles. I will find out who killed Kat, with or without you. And I'm going to put you away for so long that you will never see the Hawaiian sun again." She hissed. "But then again, you're not really from here so I can't see you missing Hawaii, but your wife and new born child. That might be a little thorn in your side, did you say good bye today when you left them?"

Anger raged in Giorgio's eyes once again but he fell silent.

"You can deny everything, but your composure is giving you away," Kono smiled as she walked to her cousin's side and stood in the shadows, "he's all yours Detective Kelly," she stated and Chin walked into the middle of the room.

"Are we going to play good cop, bad cop now?" Giorgio asked, his tone dripping with distain. "Because she was a royal bitch so I can speculate that you are the good cop."

"Nah, brah," Chin smirked, "I let our own queen bitch do all the hard work on her own, good cop and bad cop all rolled into one, and then I come in and I take your picture, I grab your finger prints and a DNA sample, and then I do all the science stuff." He said and snapped a shot of Giorgio with his smart phone. "Then I run everything through every database we have, and all the databases that the government has because Five-O has that kind of clearance, and then we see what other cases we can drop on you. Then, Detective Kalakaua, will come back and do more interrogations, or if our boss is feeling up to it, he may threaten your life with some very creative methods that even the mob would be envious of and you'll crack, like everyone else that has sat in that chair and faced off against us."

"You don't scare me," Giorgio smirked.

"That's fine, I don't need to," Chin smiled. "Because, I'm sure your henchmen are going to fall like dominos as soon as we get to them, considering we are refusing them medical attention at this time. So they'll give you up and deal with us, and we'll make sure you never see your wife or child again, unless it's through a bullet proof glass shield."

"Face it Capone, you got sloppy," Kono stated, "you should have never come into the Palace today." She said shaking her head. "Was revenge against Kat really worth it?"

"This wasn't revenge," Capone hissed.

"Sure it wasn't." Kono smiled and left the interrogation room.


	15. Life 3 Sicily 1974

**A/N: Happy Tuesday everyone! Thank you to everyone who are reading and alerting and reviewing this story. You keep me going and I love it! **

**This chapter is another one of Kat's Nine Lives. I hope you like it. Things are going to really start falling together after this point. I just hope I can stretch out the case long enough to fit in all nine lives. **

**As always I don't own anything.**

**Thanks for Reading!**

Chapter 15: Live #3, Sicily 1974

_My first thoughts, after I fled, were that I would forever be a fugitive. I would be found, caught, and dragged back to the places and the people that had betrayed me. I never wanted to see any of them again, and although I felt like a fugitive, I felt hope for the first time in my life. The strange voice echoed in my ears saying run, and I just kept running. That first day, the afternoon of my wedding, I heard the alarms sound as I fled through the garden. My father wasn't far behind me but I couldn't think of that. I just ran. The garden opened up onto a wooded park, I tore at my dress, I left shreds of it as I went and with every move it became lighter and lighter. I kept running until I couldn't hide in the bushes anymore and I emerged into an unfamiliar neighbourhood, with unfamiliar streets and I took the path the least traveled, the one that looked the newest, the most unknown and I just kept running. _

_I was surprised that I hadn't been caught, I was bleeding from the stupid shoes I was wearing, I was sweaty and I was leaden by my dress, but I didn't stop. I found my way into the deeper parts of the city, parts that I had seen before with my family but not a place that I had ever visited or lived in because I had always been above that. I ducked into alleys, I pulled garbage and old clothing out of dumpsters and I changed my appearance as best as I could, and I kept moving. I didn't sleep that night, I just roamed the streets. I don't remember feeling hungry, or thirsty, or even tired on that first night alone. I simply felt followed, felt like all I could do was run and keep going or I would be pulled back to the terrible place that I had just left._

_My first week of freedom was spent in much that way. I had found out where a homeless shelter was, I only visited it to eat and to get clothing, and then I left again trying with all my might to stay hidden. I avoided people, police, and even the men that I knew traveled in the same cars that my family traveled in. I came to areas where sirens always wailed and I turned tail and ran, but I knew that I would not be able to stay on the streets like that, in Chicago, and avoid being found. I had to get away. _

_I was so careful, in that first week, I scavenged along the roads, picking up pennies and whatever other small coinage or paper money that slipped by. I watched the buskers, knowing that I couldn't do anything but beg. I found church doorways and fountains to take whatever I could from and I moved onward toward New York. I paid as little as I could for only the absolute necessities. I cut off all my hair at a salon that advertised they would buy human hair for wigs. I changed my appearance and gained a little money, but I knew that was all it would fetch. I had a moral standard that I was not willing to break, it was all I had left, so I worked, and I worked like a dog when I got into New York. I cleaned myself up; I hired myself out to little restaurants as a cleaner. Slowly I gained some knowledge of what it really was to live and although I felt like a fugitive, I lost a lot of weight and I never saw a face that I had ever known, I still felt like I was constantly being followed._

_By the spring of 1973, I was ready to be rid of New York and America all together. I worked very hard, I saved every last dime I could and I lived out of a tiny apartment that had no heat or running water, but that had at least a roof. I applied for every job I could find listings for down in the harbor. I wanted to get aboard an international ship and sail away. Finally I got a job in a cleaning service with a cruse liner that traveled to the British Isles and back. I was over the moon the day I pulled everything that I had into a back pack and was hustled into the belly of the ship and pushed into a tiny bunk, but at least it had blankets. I was given a uniform, three meals a day and time off to roam, but I worked harder than I had ever imagined possible. I became one of the invisibles. I washed floors and doors, I folded sheets by the millions, I even had days when I cleaned up after the wealthy patrons who had not yet found their sea legs, but I was making money and I was fleeing the country. I didn't have any I.D, aside for the birth certificate that had been placed in my hands along with the wedding license the day that I had fled, but I managed to get by. I'm not really sure how it happened, but I really was just another face among the thousands aboard that ship._

_London was nothing like I ever imagined it would be, and like in New York, I disappeared into the crowds. I didn't have much, I left everything that had been given to me by the cruse liner behind, aside for my pay, and I disappeared without a name or a trace. Parts of London were like stepping back in time, but other parts were modern and so filthy that I envied the streets of New York, but I survived. It was in this place that I applied for a name. I became a different person, a free person, a register person. I gave all my old information, fearing that I would be found by some agency or other, but I changed my name to a very common English name and I moved on. _

_I didn't stay long in London, long enough to change my name and make some money, then I crossed the ocean again, not a long voyage, and landed in France with the knowledge that I would get back to Italy. I suppose I really had not through that through, but I wanted back to the beaches of Sicily, if only for a little while, and I rushed my way through Paris, hardly seeing a thing and moved with every ounce of my own passion toward the land that called to me._

_I was so naïve, even after nearly two years of running. I should have never gone to Sicily. I should have never looked for the familiar in a place that I had loved. I should have known that my past would catch up with me and it did, in the fall of 1974. _

_The strange voice that had told me to run, told me to stay away. It nagged at the back of my mind, but I wanted those beaches and that food. I wanted to see what was familiar in the people that were there but I didn't think. I should have listened to the voice because my past was waiting for me._

_I was surprised at how much time had passed, and how fast it flew by, while I was on the run. I returned to the beaches of Sicily in the spring of 1974 and I just sat. That first day I found the beach of my youth, I sat down in the sand, looked out at the sunset and wept. I was so happy. I could have died of happiness on that day. In the days that followed I got a job in a little restaurant, my Italian was flawless for a girl with such an English name and although I was well liked by my employer, the people of the little village were suspicious. Every night I walked those beaches and was happy. The tourists came by the warmth of the spring and I was happy to be apart of their lives. I saved my money, I settled into a little apartment not far from the beach, I even gave myself a chance to buy books again. Nothing fancy, but it was my little life. I flirted with men at the beach, I sang little Italian songs I had learned as a child, and I collected seashells and hung them with twine around the windows of my apartment. I lived an actual life of freedom, but always with the voice telling me to leave; to run._

_One afternoon, in the late fall of 1974, I was working on the patio of the small restaurant. The crowds had died away as the weather started to change and I was happy to watch the surf when ever I could. The village had become like home, I was happy, I had a name but I was wrong to think it would go on. As I stood on that patio, mopping up the residue of a spilled cappuccino, two people walked out into the afternoon sun and sat down. One of them I did not know, the other took my breath away._

_Giorgio looked up in that moment and stared at me, like he was seeing the same ghost that I was seeing. Of all the places, in the entire world, how did he find me here? Of all the things, in all the dark alleys and all the run down dives that I had been, why had I kept the horrible reminder of what this man was? I had our wedding certificate. It had my name on it, my old name, and his name, his birth name, and I still had it. In my little apartment among trinkets and treasures I secretly kept my birth certificate and that contract that had been forged by my father and that remained incomplete. Why was that the first thing I thought of, as my mop crashed to the ground, and his friend turned around and looked at me? I choked, I panicked, I ran into the restaurant and I hid from everyone, trembling uncontrollably and weeping. My employer sent me home, I slipped out the back, unable to even speak and I rushed home, locked my doors, covered my windows and I hid, like a frightened child under the little bistro table that sat in the kitchen._

_He found me, late in the shadows of the night, I had fallen asleep on my kitchen floor, but I was startled by the sound of footsteps, the click of the lock of my door and then shuffling. I opened my eyes to see shoes standing before me and as I looked up, I looked down the barrel of a shiny silver pistol. It was the first gun I had seen since I had fled._

_"You are a disgrace, Katherine Valentella," he said, his eyes raging with hatred._

_Then there was a sound like thunder, a pain unlike anything I had ever felt before and then peace and darkness._


	16. Connecting the Dots

**A/N: Happy Wednesday everyone. Thank you for reading and reviewing. I love to hear from you all. It makes me so happy.**

**So, this chapter is along the comic lines. I have all the Five-Os in it, I have some revelations to the case and I have Danny being Danny. Should be a good time. I think it's one of my favorites of this story so far and that is mainly because I feel like I am, if anything, better at writing comedic moments rather than Whump, or Angst, or whatever else. So here is my little Five-O moment and stay turned for a big Max chapter coming in the next few days!**

**Again, I take no responcibility for the Characters, they are CBS's so if they are not getting along, take it up with the people that really own the rights. ;)**

**Bye for now!**

Chapter 16: Connecting the Dots.

Danny walked into the bullpen, the CSIs were gone but the work crew had already arrived. It hadn't taken long, less than twenty four hours, but he was sure that the work had been ongoing throughout the night. New sheet rock was already being hung, the windows had been replaced and much of the damage had been covered with the obvious fixes that were not yet camouflaged by the esthetics that made the five-o war room their haven. He cleared his throat to announce is presence and get the attention of the two Five-Os that were huddled together by the damaged center of command. He leaned on his cane and waited patiently, a smile on his face, as Chin and Kono looked up.

"Oh my god you are walking!" Kono cried happily as she looked away from the scratched and dented Smart Table and rushed to take Danny into her arms.

"It's a flesh wound," Danny smiled. "Really, it is." He added. "But you would think that you would have leaned from yesterday. I walked in here and you didn't even hear me. That's what got us into trouble, in the first place!"

McGarrett looked up from his desk at the familiar prattle that had started, placed the diary down and came out of his office as the embrace fell between Kono and his injured partner. Chin had arrived on the scene and was embracing Danny himself, happiness written all over his face.

Steve had spent much of his time, following the assault, at the hospital making sure that his partner was well taken care of, while Chin and Kono headed the taskforce and kept the ball rolling, but he had been dismissed by his partner, and sent home to get himself back on the case. He heard Danny, again, refer to his injury as a flesh wound before he cleared his throat as well.

"That is my line, Danny," Steve smiled, reached out and shook his partner's hand.

"You left me at the hospital, you jerk," Danny stated, still smiling, but completely serious. "You don't do that, when you've gotten your partner shot!"

"I didn't get you shot, you are the one that ran in there and began this battle within the bullpen," McGarrett laughed.

"I like that name," Kono giggled, "its catchy."

"It's so 'bad ass'!" Danny smiled. "But that doesn't cover up the fact that McGarrett left me at the hospital."

"The doctor said you were going to make a full recovery and that he was probably going to release you, so I left you with Rachel and Grace and came back to work." Steve stated, half laughing, half mocking. "You told me to go!"

"You left him with his ex-wife, brah, that low!" Chin joked.

"Thank you, Chin!" Danny smiled. "You ignored the man code. It trumps partners orders you know!" he stated waving a finger at Steve.

"The man code…?" Steve asked confusion on his voice.

"You never leave a man with his ex-wife, especially in the hospital." Danny stated.

"Grace was there," Steve stated.

"The only consolation," Danny smiled, "So, how's our baby?" he asked and ran a hand over the edge of the smart table.

"She's alive," Chin smiled, "I was worried I was going to have to take over the back wall and build a case old school." He added with a chuckle, "Kono was all for the idea."

"I did it on the last case," Danny smirked, "I'm ready to do it again. Please, fill me in on all the juicy details."

"Will do," Kono smiled and the monitors that were still working, flashed to life as she worked at the smart table top.

"Giorgio Jacob Capone was present among us, yesterday afternoon, when the 'battle of the bullpen' went down." Chin stated and pulled a mug shot and his interrogation shot up onto a screen, while Kono continued to type away.

"I recognize that guy," Danny stated.

"His was the bullet that hit McGarrett's arm," Kono said triumphantly. "It was found, with blood on it, and run against his gun last night."

"We have the results," Chin smiled.

"I have my bullet," Danny said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small plastic bag, "who wants to analyze it?" he asked happily as he waved it before his partners.

"Wow, you're really happy today," McGarrett laughed at Danny's behaviour.

"I got some good pain killers," Danny laughed, "if you weren't aware, I was shot yesterday!"

"So was I!" McGarrett stated.

"Obviously not as badly, because you didn't have to stay over night in recovery from a gunshot wound to the leg!" Danny stated. "And then most of this morning filling out the release papers and then having to take up your ex-wife for the drive home to get his own car to come to work." He added with a ton of sass.

"You could have had some time off," Steve stated.

"Like that was going to happen," Kono laughed.

"You are not kicking me off this case McGarrett," Danny stated.

"I wasn't implying that I was!" Steve shouted throwing his hands in the air.

"So, I got the good pain killers and a new scar to brag about, and you McGarrett, get's zilch!" Danny mocked. "Cause you left me by myself after I got shot!" he practically yelled.

"See, mine was really just a flesh wound." McGarrett laughed, put up his hands to silence the rant that was about to begin and reacted. "I was there most of the time. I left last night when you told me to leave. And, I got you a card!"

"Thank you, I liked the card." Danny smiled. "Shall we get back to the case?"

Kono laughed and began clicking away, "Just before out exciting conclusion to yesterdays work day, I had found some information on Giorgio Capone." She said and pulled up a web site.

"Something she hadn't shared before the altercation." Chin stated.

"I googled him," Kono laughed, "and then things got harry and low and behold he was suspect number one last night in our interrogation room."

"An interrogation that the rookie rocked, by the way," Chin stated with a proud smile.

"You 'googled' him?" Danny asked making quotation signs for emphasis.

"Yes, I had a hunch, turns out, the guy is a great nephew to THE Al Capone, and he's quite the expert on his great uncles history." Kono stated, pulled up the family tree and showed the listing and photos that traced down through the years.

"So he's gotten into the family business," Steve stated.

"We had crime family royalty in our office yesterday," Danny mocked, "how many detectives can boast about that?" he asked and then waved his bullet at his counter parts once more, "I hope that I was shot by Al Capone's great nephew!"

"I was!" Steve smiled proudly.

"Anyway," Kono laughed and continued, "turns out, Giorgio likes to tell his family history, where they are currently residing, and to whom he's been connected." She stated pulling up pictures connected with Giorgio.

"He had a photo of Isabella Valentella, but not one of Katherine Valentella," Chin stated. "Both listed as deceased, I might add."

"But I can see the resemblance between Isabella and Katherine." Danny stated.

"Uncanny, isn't it?" Kono asked.

"Nice work Detective Kalakaua!" Danny smiled as he stared at the pictures on the screens. "So what else do we know?" he asked.

"I think Giorgio was responsible for shooting Katherine." McGarrett stated as he rushed back to his office and returned with the diary.

"In our interrogation he said he wasn't in the bond office," Kono said when Steve returned. "We still haven't gotten those results back from Max, but we do have his weapon now."

"He may not have shot Kat, but he shot Katherine Valentella," Steve said, flipped open the diary and turned it toward his counterparts.

"How much you want to make a bet we have a bullet that matches Capone's gun," Chin said as he smiled at Kono.

"I think our favorite ME, has all of our bullets," Kono smiled.

"So you were telling the truth in your interrogation." Chin smiled.

"Of course I was, cousin, would I fly in Willy Nilly and just spout off rumors?" Kono smiled.

"She was amazing," Chin smiled.

"Man, I wish I could have been there, been that fly on the wall," Danny sighed, "but I was all by myself in recovery!" he stated and turned with a pout toward Steve.

"I left you a card!" Steve stated, threw his arms in the air and turned back to his office.

"You'll never let him live it down, will you?" Kono asked as Danny started to chuckle.

"Oh hell no," Danny smiled and walked, with a slight limp, toward his own office to survey the damage.

**P.S If you want angst/hurt/cliffies, go and read Null and Void by Qweb. It's amazing!**


	17. Our Favorite ME

**A/N: Hello everyone, well, I got a little carried away with this update. Five chapters tonight, I just wanted to make up for the lack of updates the past few days. I hope its enjoyable.**

**As always, I don't own H50, I'm just happy to make up a little story to pass the time between episodes!**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter 17: Our Favorite ME.

Max sat at his desk, a line of little vials before him and several charts and papers spread out across his immaculately organized desk. He had files, clearly marked as case files and the papers and charts were colour coordinated with the vials that were lines up in front of him. There were nine vials in total. He had a grin on his face that cried out in triumph as the four members of five-o walked into the medical examiners office, past the two additional security guards, and stood before his desk.

"You beckoned?" Danny asked leaning slightly on his cane.

"Did you bring me another bullet?" Max asked as he waved an empty vial at Danny, "I'm missing one, or so I have been told that I am missing one."

"I've got it right here," Danny smiled as he pulled the bullet from his pocket and handed it the Max.

"If you don't mind waiting I will process this now," Max stated, snapped on a pair of gloves and walked into the sterile lab to the left of his office without waiting for an answered.

"Not like we have anything better to do," Danny sighed sarcastically as the Five-O watched Max leave.

Danny fell into a chair, his leg still sore, but content to be in once piece, as Steve began to pace, Kono stared out the window silently and Chin watched Max's every move through the laboratory windows.

Max returned several minutes later, the bullet had been placed in a tiny vial and was now labeled with what looked like blue paint. Max sat down at his desk, shifted the lines in the vials he had arranged and placed the bullet with the others that were labeled with blue marks on them.

"Are you ready to explain?" Steve asked as he watched Max fold his hands and look at his work with pride.

"I am," Max smiled, placed his hand on a folder and cleared his throat, "though I am still waiting for the advanced DNA analysis on a few of the samples, the most resent one being now well on its way to telling us who it belonged to…"

"It came out of my leg, Max; we know whose DNA is on it!" Danny stated interrupting the man's well planned out and scripted speech.

"As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted," Max stated again shooting a look of utter distain at Danny, "I have been able to identify all of the weapons involved in this case, or rather, patterns in weapons." He stated. "Let me elaborate," he smiled and continued motioning to the colourful dots on the tops of the small vials. "Each colour represents a different weapon. These two, match each others striations, so I have concluded that they were fired from the same weapon, a weapon I believe you have in your procession," he said and smiled.

"That's impressive," Kono said eyeing the two vials with red dots on their tops.

"No, Detective Kalakaua, what is really impressive is that after 37 years I was able to isolate DNA from the first of the mystery bullets, and have matched that DNA to one Katherine Smith." Max smiled proudly.

"That's the bullet from 1974?" Steve asked.

"Yes, and the bullet that you were hit by," Max stated holding up the two bullets with red dots, "was shot by Giorgio Jacob Capone. There were other bullets found in your bullpen from his weapon, but they did not hold any substantial forensic evidence that merited anything interesting. I have labeled them, and you can have them back, but they hold no meaning to the case." He added and tossed a plastic evidence bag at McGarrett.

"So I wasn't shot by Capone?" Danny sighed.

"No," Max stated.

"Ha, I win!" Steve smiled and held out his hand to Danny, Chin and Kono.

"Of course you would be the one with the interesting bullet." Danny sighed and handed over the money.

"Interesting bullet, my good man, I would say that yours holds more interest then the one that your partner's DNA was found on." Max stated not understanding the excitement when he hadn't explained nearly half of his findings, "I have here three bullets, alike in weapon and make, but for whom a secret has not yet been unfolded. One bullet contains DNA contributions from and unknown donor, one from a Five-O and the other holds a familial connection with Katherine Smith." Max stated holding up three vials with blue dots. "You have this weapon, I believe, also in your procession."

"That is interesting Max." Chin said, "It would also mean we have a suspect."

A smile spread across Steve's face.

"What's the connection?" Kono asked.

"From what I can tell, and the limited access I have with my databases, I can only tell you that the DNA tells me that the blood came from a male relative from a brothers or sisters child." Max stated. "Further DNA analysis my prove to be more conclusive."

"It's a Valentella?" Steve asked as he caught Danny's eye.

"I do not know who that is," Max stated, "but I have all the work ups here."

"And what do the bullets with green dots have to tell us?" Danny asked still eyeing three bullets on the desk."

"These ones are the most interesting of all. As you can see, they have green dots and other colours as well, because each has a similarity, but are not the same." Max stated. "This first bullet, green dot, yellow dot, matches the unknown contributor in DNA, but matches a weapon confiscated in your office yesterday."

"The bullets gun is accounted for," Chin stated.

"Indeed," Max smiled, "second bullet, green dot, red dot, blue dot, was fired from the weapon that shot Danny, but matches to Kat Smiths blood. That was the fatal shot that took her life."

"We have her murderer in custody?" Danny asked a little shocked.

"Afraid, I can't be clear on that," Max stated opening a file now. "The gun, after being confiscated was processed and two contributions were found on the weapons. Hair in the magazine and blood caught from an untrained shooter revealed that though the weapon was loaded by one man, it may have been previously shot, and left un-cleaned, by another. The hair matches a man you have in custody; the blood is a sibling match to Kat"

"A sibling match?" Steve asked.

"Yes, people not in the system, but a sibling match none the less." Max stated.

"And what about the last bullets," Danny asked.

"These is my favorites of all," Max smiled as he held up the final two bullets in the bunch. One was marked with a green dot and a pink dot; the second also held the dots but a date was stamped on the vial, meaning it had been pulled from another case."

"These bullets are from the same weapon, a weapon that we do not have as of yet. Nor do we have any record of this particular weapon, but holding the bullets side by side under a microscope we can definitively conclude that they were fired from the same weapon. This first bullet was among the ones you left with me, McGarrett, when you first came to visit. It contains residue that matches a cold case, a man who was killed but the murder was never found because there wasn't any evidence. The bullet had gone missing. It was a case your father worked on." Max stated holding the bullet out to Steve, "this second bullet, was the bullet that killed your father."

Steve's face twisted in shock and pain.

"That's impossible," Steve stated. "We have Hesse's gun, we would have matched the bullets."

"Your father may have been shot by Victor Hesse, but the gun was not his own, and it is still out there." Max stated.

Steve fell silent, staring angrily at the bullets before him.

"What about the bullet fired from Kat's gun on the night of her murder, did you get anything off of it?" Kono asked when the silence in the room became too much for her.

"Ah yes, I almost forgot," Max smiled, leaned over and opened his safe. He pulled out one last vial, placed it on the desk among the others and sighed, "it had trace DNA that matches the sibling contribution on the gun that killed her."

"She was killed by her brother?" Danny whispered as the silence settled again.


	18. Life 4 Beijing 1981

Chapter 18: Life #4 Beijing1981

_I woke up four days later lying in a hospital room with monitors all around me and completely alone. I don't know how I got to the hospital, how I managed to even stay alive, but the nurses came as my monitors started to sound off and I was spoken to in Italian so sweetly, I almost believed I was back with my Nona. I believed that Giorgio thought I was dead, he would have never left my lying on my kitchen floor, but I also believed that I was dead. It was too surreal to even hope that I had escaped again. But, it was the truth, the following morning, when I hadn't showed up to work, my employer came in search of me, found my door open and me lying in a pool of my own blood. I had died, truly, on my way to the hospital, but was revived and then, four days later I came back to life, to the living._

_ My stay in the hospital wasn't incredibly long after that. My employers visited, I told them some lie, or another, I'm not really sure what I told them to set their mind at ease, but when the police came, with the bullet and the evidence to ask for my statement I reacted in such a way that was counter to my personality in some ways, but completely my survival instinct. I knew that if they tried to find Giorgio, he would know I was a live and so, when the policed were asked to step out of the room because my doctor was interested in seeing me, they left behind one, very valuable piece of evidence and I took it. I don't know when they realized the bullet was gone, but if they had returned to the hospital, after taking my statement, I wouldn't have known. The unfamiliar voice in the back of my mind told me to run, and even though I was in pain, had only just returned to the land of the living, I ran. That same day I withdrew ever last penny I had from the bank, snuck into my apartment, took only what I knew would tie Giorgio and I together and I fled. _

_ Once again, I was a fugitive, but I had been granted a second, maybe even a third chance at a life, and I embraced it. This time I was unafraid of running. I was unafraid of what would happen because I had now been the victim, stared down the barrel of a gun and lived. I ran for days, I ached from the pain of my surgery, but I was careful to clean my wound and keep on moving._

_ By 1976 I had arrived in the Amazing East. I had learned about Communism in school, but I had not understood it until I entered China. I didn't know the language, I looked so different from the people, but I found my way to a British Consulate and was taken in with open arms. I had my identification, and they believed me to be a British Citizen. New life was beginning once again._

_ China became my place of freedom; A place where I was no longer the victim. I learned the regional dialects. I learned to associate with the people. I learned that honor was so much greater than anything in the culture. I got a job teaching English and the students were wonderful, and once again I became happy, but I knew I needed to take every precaution. _

_ I started my training when I was in China. I had sworn off guns. I never wanted to see them again, but I knew that I had to something to become stronger, more independent and completely unafraid. _

_ It was in 1979, after three years of working, training, and becoming confident that I met my last Master. He was a man in a boy's body, trained since he had been old enough to walk and respected by so many as a rising star of China. He was only 15 then, but he was already enrolled in the military, and worked primarily with his father and grandfather to teach young people Kung Fu. As a woman, I was passed on to the youngest of the group as I was not held in high enough esteem to work with the Grand Masters. But I had begged to be taught, to not be left unprotected and in need of dependence. I wanted to be my own person, to carry on my own legacy, and perhaps my master saw that in me. Wo Fat accepted me, he taught me to fight as if I was not a woman, and in return I taught him my language. _

_ I learned so much in those days, not only the techniques of the warriors, but about honor, about trust and companionship. I, though I was 25, was naïve. I was a child in a woman's body. I didn't know the world as I ought to know it and the boy master taught me how to see the strengths and the weaknesses that I processed. He was always my superior, be towered over me and ordered me around like I was nothing, but there were times, moments really, when my lessons in language would surpass his skill and a respect was developed between us, as much as respect can be had in a country were women are lesser citizens._

_ By 1981, he was 18 and already moving up the ranks in the military. He had learned all that I could teach him, and although there was so much left for me to learn in the warriors arts, I was faced with a huge decision. Wo Fat came to me one day, before he was sent back to his unit and he told me, not ask, told me that I would marry him, or I would disgrace the elders and the people that look upon him so highly. He had trained me, had molded me into the model woman that he had wanted and now it was time for me to take my place. He told me, it was my duty as a woman to belong to a man, but I saw a kind of hurt in his eyes when he said it. I was hurt; I didn't understand what would bring him to this, that wasn't the man that I had known and though I had grown to like him, possibly love him, but I could not be forced into captivity as I had been so long ago._

_ I told him no and he was furious. He left that night to return to the city, to his duties within the military and I slipped away, hidden from everything that was around me, into the shadows as I had been taught and my life changed again. I was running once more._


	19. Whoa Big Fella

Chapter 19: Whoa Big Fella.

"Where did you get this gun?" Steve yelled, the younger man sitting before him trembling at the sight of the anger in the navy SEALs eyes. "Tell me who gave it to you," Steve hissed so close to the young man that he could feel the heat of Steve's breath on his face.

"I don't know what you are talking about." The young man stated.

Steve was so angry; loosing his cool even, that Danny had to physically stop him from tossing the man off his chair.

"Whoa, big fella, it's time to settle down and give the Detective a shot here, alright?" Danny said as he grabbed Steve's arm and pulled him away from the man who was hardly a teenager.

Steve sighed but obeyed.

"Tony, Tony, Tony, it looks like you've got yourself in a heap of trouble, young man," Danny said as he walked before the man in the chair. He swung his can as if he were on a leisurely stroll. "Now, I know you had a nice chat, last night, with Detective Kalakaua, but she didn't get all the answers that we needed and well, frankly, I'd like to know why you felt it was important to follow Giorgio Capone into our office and proceed to shoot an officer." Danny added as he motioned toward his led, "we matched the bullet that imbedded itself in my FLESH, to the gun you were toting and we also matched that gun to two other bullets from other cases, one dating as far back as 1992, we believe."

"It wasn't me man, i was 12 in 92, still living in Chicago!" Tony stated.

"I believe you, Tony, but you have to tell me where you got the gun!" Danny sighed, "Or I can't help you. Even for a 12 year old, I could put you away for attempted murder."

"You said you lived in Chicago?" Steve asked calmly from the shadows by the door. "Why come out here to Hawaii?" Steve asked, "why not stay in Chicago and get on with the crime family there?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Tony hissed.

"Alright, you need to stop talking," Danny stated shaking his cane at Steve, "and you, you need to start cooperating," he added shaking his cane at Tony. "Now, I don't want to do this, but I'm going to start taking out appendages if you don't start answering my questions. Mi Capisci?

The boys eyes grew wide, "who are you dude?"

"I'm a Jersey cop with a big fat Italian family and the chops to back it up," Danny stated, "and if there is one thing I really hate, next to pineapple on my pizza, its little shits who disrespect their elders, like you."

"You don't know anything about me, idiota," Tony hissed and spat on the floor.

"Cosi mi aiuta Dio, sarete paralane," Danny hissed.

"You keep God out of this," Tony hissed again.

"Alright, you want to go all mob on this, we can go mob on this," Danny stated pulled out his service weapon, unloaded the clip onto the floor leaving one bullet in the chamber, "You talk, I don't shoot, you don't talk, well you can guess what happens," he added and pressed the barrel of his gun at Tony's head, right between the eyes.

"You gonna let him talk to me like this?" Tony squirmed a little.

"He told me to stop talking," Steve answered. "He has ever right to shoot you, if we are playing by mob rules, cause you shot him."

The click of Danny pulling back the hammer on his gun caught Tony's attention once again.

"Alright, I got the gun from my God Father." Tony confessed.

"The God Father, really?" Danny asked raising his eyebrow.

"Not THE God Father, MY God Father," Tony stated shaking a little.

"Who's your God Father?" Steve asked.

"Ricardo Valentella," Tony stated.

"So Ricky gave you this gun?" Danny asked picking the weapon in question up from off the table and waving it in front of Tony.

"Yes, sir," Tony answered.

"Oh sir, now, that's respectful," Steve said raising an eyebrow to his partner.

"You shut up," Danny hissed. "Why would your God Father give you this gun?" he asked.

"Because I finished my initiation into the clan," Tony stated proudly.

"You're 22 years old, Tony; you could do so much more in the world." Steve stated from the door way, "What is the matter with you?"

"E' la mia famiglia stai parlando." Tony hissed.

"Yeah, about that, your family, as nice as it is to see you standing by them, have ruined the lives of hundreds of people." Danny shouted at the boy his gun once again resting against his forehead. "You are all criminals and you will pay for what you have done. You, at 22, have shot a cop. You are not getting out of prison my friends, so la famiglia will not see you again. Is it worth it?" he asked pulled his gun away from the boys face and fired it at the ceiling causing both the boy and Steve to jump. "And for he record, I wasn't going to shoot you because I don't believe in mob tactics." Danny hissed, "Come on Steven, we have an uncle to capture and question."

"Danny, you just held a loaded weapon at a man as a threat," Steve stated as he followed his partner out of the interrogation you.

"You, you are going to lecture me on protocol?" Danny hissed. "The little shit deserved what he got. And now we are one step closer to finding out who killed Kat."


	20. The Philosopher

Chapter 20: The Philosopher.

Kono watched, holding her breath, as Steve and Danny walked back into the bullpen, both men looking red in the face and angry. They had all returned in a relatively uneasy silence, from their visit with Max, but there was something else in Steve that hadn't been there before, it was something like doubt and maybe even fear. He retreated to his office as soon as he had ordered his crew to continue building the case, while Danny arranged the next interrogation. Steve had left for the interrogation red in the face and ready to kill. Kono had dodged his flight, just barely getting out of his way before he nearly trampled her and it had set her on edge just wondering what had happened. Steve's mood had changed so drastically from fear and doubt, to anger and recklessness. It was something that he had read, something that wasn't sitting well with him, and most certainly, something to do with the case.

Steve walked right past the smart center of operations, into his office and slammed the door. Danny, being the gentlemen walked up to Kono, placed his gun on the smart table and sighed.

"What's bugging him?" she asked eyeing Steve threw the blinds as he fell into his desk chair and picked up the diary again.

"I don't know," Danny sighed, "but he almost took it out on that kid, so I had to do the interrogation instead. I fired my weapon in the interrogation room."

"That sounds like something the boss would do," Kono said sadly.

"It is, but I didn't know how else to get to the kid, with Steve's anger egging him on. I don't know what he read that pissed him off so much, but he's not ready to share and its affecting his judgement, and mine." Danny sighed again. "Please give me some better news, so I don't go shooting again. Firing my weapon in the precinct twice in one week is not a good record, Kono."

"Did you find out where Tony got the gun?" Kono asked sympathy written on her face.

"He said he got it from Ricardo Valentella, upon completion of his initiation into the clan," Danny sighed.

"That's too bad," Kono said, "what a waste of a life."

"I agree," Danny said rubbing his temples, "the kid even made me curse God, in Italian," he said shaking his head.

"Also the second time in two days," Kono smiled sympathetically.

"At this rate, I'm going to give away all my secrets." Danny smiled but continued, "This case is doing a number on all of us. How is Chin doing?" he asked.

"He's immersed in the case, but you can tell, there is doubt about what is going down." Kono sighed, "He's quiet, always, but he's even quieter. I think with new revelations about Kat's past, he's feeling betrayed because he was one of her 'boys'."

"She didn't trust people," Danny said sympathetically now, "I got that vibe the very first time I met her, and I told you that."

"Because that's in your blood, Danny," Kono smiled, "but Chin trusts, McGarrett even trusts, and you, you trust your intuition."

"When did you get so smart, Keiki?" Danny asked with a smile.

"I'm not a Keiki anymore, Haole, and who died and made you Hawaiian all of a sudden?" Kono laughed as she punched him in the shoulder.

"Man, now I'm spouting off Hawaiian words," Danny sighed, "this case has got me completely fucked up!"

"If it's any consolation, I did make some small connections that may help us, especially knowing that Ricardo may be involved." Kono smiled and brought up three pictures onto the smart screen. "These are the Valentella brothers, Giovanni, Ricardo and Carlo." She said motioning to each brother in turn. "The FBI sent all they could on the Valentella family 'business', as it would seem, Alonzo Valentella is still alive and well and reeking havoc on the citizen of Chicago, although he had some right hand men in his associates and his son Carlo. Carlo is currently the subject of an in-depth investigation in Chicago. Most of his cases are closed but I was reassured by the Governors contacts within the FBI that he is currently in Chicago."

"Good for Carlo, he'd better stay away from my island," Danny hissed.

"'Your Island, brah?" Kono asked with a laugh.

"Silenzio!" Danny sighed.

Kono giggled, "Anyway, the FBI has also traced Ricardo to Oahu. He allegedly runs a small construction company."

"Of course he does," Danny sighed sarcastically, "and let me guess, Giovanni runs a deli."

"Actually it's a bakery," Kono smiled, "and he doesn't run it, his daughters do, he still resides in Chicago, but makes frequent trips to the islands to visit with his daughters."

"You think the daughters are clean?" Danny asked.

"The FBI thinks so," Kono stated, "They have no evidence that the Valentella girls have any interest in the family business what so ever. They moved out here before Ricardo, but Giorgio has been with them almost the entire time, if not longer."

"Papa needed someone to make sure that all the grandchildren were protected, why not someone he trusted." Danny asked rhetorically.

"My thoughts exactly," Kono stated, "and it didn't help matters that Giorgio married several times and had sons. Katherine is his first girl."

"Really, that's interesting." Danny stated the wheels in his head were turning.

"What are you thinking?" Kono asked after a moment of silence had quieted the bullpen.

"I wonder if Giorgio always had eyes for the little sister," Danny stated, "I mean he was engaged to Isabella first, why not name his first girl Isabella?"

"Is that what you would do?" Kono asked.

"No," Danny stated, "When Rachel and I named our daughter we decided to name her after the gift of love that is given by God, even though we do not deserve it. Grace is God's unmerited favor."

"That's beautiful Danny," Kono smiled.

"Yeah, I know," Danny half blushed, "now back to the case, please, before I rattle off more of my carefully guarded secrets."

Kono's smile widened as she shuffled some files on the smart table and brought up some surveillance footage. "So once we had images of the Valentella brothers, I decided to run some recognition and I remember that you and Steve were ambushed in the medical examiners parking lot. I got video of that lot, captured these images in the reflections of the vehicle windows and ran them for matches," Kono stated as the matches flashed onto the screen.

"You know, assaulting an officer is enough to put a guy away," Danny smiled as he recognized the pictures.

"It's also enough to get a warrant to search a suspects house, and to get their DNA," Kono smiled.

"Well done, Bella Donna, looks like we have something to distract the boss man with," Danny smiled.

"What did you call me?" Kono asked a playful smirk on her face.

"You understood it," Danny hissed.

"I want to hear you say in my language," Kono smiled.

"I don't speak Hawaiian, sorry," Danny winked and walked off to get McGarrett, while Kono went in search of her cousin.


	21. Life 5 Honolulu 1985

Chapter 21: Life #5 Honolulu 1985

_Honolulu is the most beautiful place in the entire world. I never though I could fall in love with a place, paradise seemed insufficient to describe it, it is heaven on earth. I never though I could love a place more than I loved Sicily, but the island of Oahu captured my heart the moment I set food on the island and I swore I would never leave it again._

_ I landed in Hawaii, Oahu to be exact, in 1983 after being called by the sound of the waves. I was reluctant, at first, to return to America, but Hawaii is hardly the mainland. I figured I could grow old living on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, how would my past find me there? So I hopped on a plane, took only what I could carry and I flew away from the Asian continent. I had regrets, but I had learned a lot and now I was ready, I was tired, I wanted to settle down. By 1983 I was 29 years old, I was worldly, and I had lived on the run for much of my life. Hawaii beckoned and it captured my soul within that first year. I was welcomed with open arms, I was treated with kindness and respect and I learned from the people what it was to live in the spirit of Aloha._

_ 1984 marked the change in my situation. I decided never again to feel like a fugitive and although I didn't like the idea of guns, I disliked the idea of crime more. I knew, by the time I was 29 what mafia meant. I knew what drug lords and crime families did to young people, to poor people, to those that could not function otherwise. They offered the escape from poverty that so many people are searching for, and yet they do it in misguided ways. I knew in that time that I needed to break the cycle at least for me and I applied to become a police officer. It was also at this time that I met my Ohana, my big brother whom I had loved deep in my heart all my life, and longed to know because he was just and good and uncorrupted. I met John McGarrett in 1984 and he reminded me of Giovanni in the way that he smiled, in the way that he spoke and the way his eyes lit up when he talked about his pride for his family._

_ John came into my life in the early fall of 1984. I had just been accepted into the academy, I was one of the older members and the only woman in my class, but I was feisty and I joined fight clubs and boxing gyms to prove my worth. With my Asian trained I was accepted into certain circles very easily, but boxing, the sport and the lifestyle was new to me. John taught me to box, he taught me what it was to be a police officer and he taught me what life was like, to be apart of a family. I'll never forget the day I met his 8 year old son for the first time and his baby girl, and his beautiful wife. She was like the goddess of the volcano that I had heard so much about, brilliant and feisty; she had passion to keep up with John. The family was beautiful, perfect, and for a moment in time they welcomed me in._

_ The more time I spent with John McGarrett, the more confident I became, and the more I learned to trust that unfamiliar voice as my own intuition. I would be lying if I said I didn't idolize John McGarrett, he was the only person I ever told my whole story to. John knew my real name, he knew my background and where I had come from. He called me Kat for the very first time in reference to the lives I had lived and survived through them. John taught me about respect, brotherhoods and partnerships. He showed me what it was to be a police officer, but also showed me that civilians were the key to good law enforcement. John didn't have the biases that other police officers had. He looked to community, to the people of his Ohana, to show him where the wrongs were being committed. _

_ I will admit, John tried to talk me out of being a police officer. Not because he didn't think I could handle it, he knew I was strong, but because he wanted me to live a different life than the one I had lived so far. I believed I was turning over a new leaf, but when I graduated from the academy and I walked across that stage to accept my badge and saw John and his family in attendance I believed I was doing the right thing. My mind changed when John gave me a beautiful craved box at my reception and the gift within the box sent chills to my very soul. John McGarrett had given me a gun for my graduation with the warning that I was not a reminder of where I had come from, but where I was going and that it should remain in its case until I absolutely needed it. I felt the weight of my service weapon at my side. I heard the cracks like thunder that had echoed throughout my life and I knew that being a police officer and living by the gun was not what I was meant to do._

_ I left the force after only 6 months on the job. In that time I had been shot at twice and had killed a suspect dead with a single shot in my defense. I wept for days and only stopped when John came to check on me. My life changed when he introduced me to a friend of his, a bonds man who was a boxing coach part time and a bounty hunter by every waking moment. The bounty hunter taught me about second chances, about good people going bad because they don't think they have any other choice and about giving people back a voice. I learned those ways, my intuition was good in that profession and I opened my own bonds business in the last months of 1985, and John and his family were present for the grand opening. _

_ This was to be my moment, my new life, and I put my silver pistol away in its beautiful case as a reminder of what it meant and what I was not. _


	22. All The Kings Men

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who has been reading and reviewing this story. It means the world to me. I'm updating today with three more chapters. I was trying to post one chapter at a time, but I wanted to get this story finished before the season finale, so the next chapters as well as updates, will come in chunks. I am almost done, I have a few loose ends to tie up so that the case can be completed and one more major twist to pull together before I end this story. It shouldn't take long, I hope, and I'm more determined now, after last nights episode, to get it done!**

**Once again, I own nothing, though I wish I did.**

**I hope you enjoy the update! Happy Reading!**

Chapter 22: All the Kings Men.

Steve sighed heavily as the knock of his partners hand fell on his door.

"Kono got us identification on the guys that jumped us. One was Giorgio Capone; the other was Ricardo Valentella. Are you up for knocking some sense into a mob boss or two?" Danny asked as he peaked in the door.

"Damn right I am," Steve smiled, jumped up from his place at his desk and followed his partner out to the Camaro.

Kono and Chin had arranged for the HPD back up and were following closely behind Danny and Steve as they pulled up to what was now known to be the Valentella compound. The gate was opened when they arrived, and as they were pulling in a convoy of black Escalades were pulling out.

Steve jumped out of the Camaro, barely slamming it into park and drawing his weapon. The front running Escalade stopped, holding up the convoy and a smartly dressed, middle aged business man stepped out to greet the barrel of Steve's weapon.

"The Valentella's are home," The man said to Steve as the second Escalade's rear window rolled down and Wo Fat looked out upon the Five-O officers.

"Do you need to detain us any longer?" Wo Fat asked without getting out of the vehicle.

"What are you doing here?" Steve hissed as he stopped and eyed the business man with contempt and disgust.

"Research," Wo Fat stated. "You'll find the misters Valentella by the pool. Skip the font door and go around the left side of the house, there aren't any guards."

Steve stared at Wo Fat in skeptic disbelieved, but nodded to let the convoy leaved and then pushed on through the gate. They found both Giovanni and Ricardo sitting under the thatched beach umbrella sipping their cocktails and staring in disbelief as the Five-O's rounded the corner with the HPD reinforcement.

"Ricardo Valentella, you are under arrest for the murder of Katherine Smith," Steve stated as he walked around the table, weapon ever trained on his suspect, with Danny covering him.

"I didn't kill anyone," Ricardo stated harshly as he was handcuffed.

"You can't have enough evidence to hold him," Giovanni stated as he motioned for his wife to go back into the house.

"We have enough to hold him," Steve stated. "Take him away," he added to Chin and Kono.

"You don't know who you are messing with," Giovanni stated as his brother was carted away.

"Oh I know who I'm messing with," Steve said with an air of authority and confidence, "and I'm going to put all of you Valentella's away for the crimes you've committed against the citizens of Hawaii." Steve added and turned and walked away from the arrest scene.

Danny had to jog to catch up to Steve as he left, but the Jersey Detective was determined to catch Steve. Steve realized Danny was following and slowed his paced.

"Did it seem to you that there was a hint of, I don't know, guilt in Giovanni?" Danny whispered as he and Steve neared the Camaro.

"You picked up on it too?" Steve asked as he turned and eyed Danny.

"You think we picked up the wrong guy?" Danny asked.

"Our evidence points to Ricardo. Ricardo is the only one we can hold." Steve stated.

"That's very by the book of you, Steven," Danny smiled.

"But your intuition is usually right. What are you thinking Danny?" Steve asked falling into the driver seat and waiting until Danny's door had closed behind him to gain his response.

"I don't think Ricardo is calling the shots," Danny stated, "in most patriarchal situations doesn't everything fall to the oldest son?"

"You think the blood in Kat's office matches her oldest brother?" Steve asked. "Giovanni is her favorite brother according to her diary."

"We won't know until we run Ricardo against that sample. Until then, he's suspect number one." Danny sighed.

"And if we are wrong, we give Giovanni a chance to run back to Chicago." Steve stated as they pulled back into the street.

"I know," Danny sighed. "Trust me, I don't feel good about this at all."

"Neither do I," Steve sighed and fell silent, his eyes never leaving the road.


	23. Life 6 Honolulu 1992

Chapter 23: Life #6 Honolulu 1992

_Between 1985 and 1992 my life was amazing. I made a name for myself. I helped a lot of people. I became independent and settled. I was centered in my life, I was happy with my business ventures and I was proud to say that I was a law abiding citizen working toward the betterment of the community and country. Hawaii had embraced me. I was stronger; I could fight and was a force to be reckoned with. I had begun pulling in people, men and women, children really, who had made bad choices and for whom my help and my influence was turning them around. I had gotten into some sticky situations, but I always got out again and my name within my community became respected and loved. I had a wonderful friendship with a wonderful, respected family, the McGarrett's, and I never, ever had to use my gun in any situations that I found myself in. It remained in its case, locked away and I had all but forgotten about it. I was saving lives, something I could not say for my family, and I was proud to have a gathering of survivors around me. They had survived the streets, had paid for their crimes and were now doing things that were good. My 'boys', my second chance children, were my life and my refuge and I loved as I had always meant to love._

_ My past still loomed over me. I talked of it often with John and he encouraged me to start writing it all down. I kept my former birth certificate locked away with my marriage license and the bullet that had been pulled from my body. I trusted it all to John and I know that he looked into my cases and built whatever her could around them. He was a good cop, looked into channels that most ignored, and found the truth when it was hiding. I had kept everything as a reminder of what had happened, and John was proud of the thoroughness of my case. I kept something to myself, however, with my gun, hidden away but ever present, because they were a part of the person that I was and I wasn't ashamed of my past. I acknowledged who I was, but I kept my new name as a sign of my new life. I still didn't want to be found, by that part of my past._

_ In early 1992 I was presented with an honorarium from the state of Hawaii. My face flashed on most of the news stations and my business was booming with new clients calling into the new bounty hunter and bonds woman that had gotten the attention of some friends in high places. That same week I received a letter, it was in flawless Italian and from someone who claimed to know me well but who would keep my secret. It was delivered to my office, not to my home, which was a relief, but it was written in a pen that I didn't recognize. I never knew anyone in my family to be writers, but someone knew of my Italian heritage and fluency and was now corresponding with me. There was a return address on the envelope and so I wrote back pleading that I would not be contacted again by the stranger. The letter's however kept coming. One after another I received letters of congratulations on my efforts and I was somewhat uncomfortable with receiving them. I rarely wrote back. If I did, it was only to ask that the letters stop, but they never did. I filed them all away with the reminders of my past that I never wanted to resurface. _

_ By spring, my world was rocked by another unfortunate event. I had been working diligently, putting through files and rounding up my fugitives when I stumbled onto a young man, who was out on bond with me, and when I went to pick him up he came quietly. It wasn't rare for that to happen so I hadn't really worried about the bond, until later that day, after booking the jump into lock up. I exited the HDP building to find that my crew had been replaced by another group of men. The crew wasn't far away, only just down the block with our vehicles, so I assumed that it was just another crew coming in with their own fugitive. I didn't mind walking but as I passed the center vehicle my name was called in a familiar voice and froze. My heart leaped out of my chest, and at the same time, I wanted to run away. I turned to see a much older, must sterner Wo Fat staring at me. The military uniform was gone, the traditional fighting cloths hardly a memory, for the expensive suit and the droves of body guards he seemed to command. The voice that I had come to rely on screamed that he was not a good man, but my heart, the part of me that missed him, that owed him so much and that at some point loved him, just stared in disbelief._

_ "You are doing well, I presume," he said in his soft, velvety voice, his English greatly improved._

_ "I am, and you?" I asked with an air of formality._

_ "Business is booming," He smiled, "come, take tea with me. Regale me with your adventures these past 12 years." He said, offering a seat beside him in the vehicle._

_ I remained on the side walk, "I'm sorry, I can't. I've got other jumps and other clients to deal with today, too much money on the line to take a break. I am deeply sorry." I said, bowed to him in a way that I had been used to, and walked on down the street to where my crew had been waiting. I felt his eyes on me the whole time. A lump had developed in my throat as I through myself into the vehicle with one of my partners and we drove off. _

_ Once back at the office I left my employees to do all that I had told Wo Fat I was planning on working on and I called the only person I trusted for advice that I needed. I was ready to run again. I don't know why I wanted so badly to escape, but I wanted to. John arrived, dressed in his full HPD regalia and closed the door to my office behind him as he saw the fear and the confusion on my face. I told him about the meeting, told him I was sorry to pull him away from his work, but I needed to hear it from some one else. I was ready to run, my head told me to, my heart told me to stay, and John told me to take ownership of my life and all that I had done. He calmed my nerves, pointed out how much good I had done and then asked me one question that I had never thought I would hear._

_ "Who will take care of those who would not get a second chance somewhere else?" he asked and my heart stopped._

_ John McGarrett was the best of men. Cut from a perfect and seamless cloth. He was nobler than any other person that I had ever been acquainted with and he held me in high esteem. He was right. I was a second chance person. I gave second chances because I had always had to make my own way and grab a hold of all my own chances. It didn't need to be that hard for other people. I was that person, holding out my hand in peace to people who wouldn't have been acknowledged otherwise. John was right and I needed to stay. My intuition told me it was right. The voice had calmed with the advice John had give and so I stood my ground and believed I would not be bothered, or if I was, I would stand up and face my problems from now on. Katherine Smith, wasn't a runner, she was a Bounty Hunter and Second Chance Giver._

_ John McGarrett did not talk about work. He was a brilliant cop, strong Detective and incredibly efficient, but he didn't talk about work. He kept all of his alliances and enemies a secret from people that might take advantage of him, or from the people that he might get hurt in the process. I was one of those people. We talked about me, often enough, and if we talked about John it was about his children, his wife, the home he had bought, renovated and made into his palace, and about his car. John had a 74, Mercury Marquis that was like his Bat Mobile. I didn't care for the year, it was the year I was shot, but the car was bad to the bone. On his off days he drove that car like it wasn't anyone business, on other days, he drove a very economical run of the mill Chevrolet. It was the family car, and he drove it to the precinct to get his squad car and then he'd drive it home again. But, if he could drive that Marquis that was the car you would catch him in. Unfortunately for his wife, and his enemies, the Chevrolet would change the course of their lives._

_ As the school term drew to a close, and John's son Steven, had taken yet another title in the High School Football realm, his work and his home life began to collide. One evening, after talking to John briefly about Steven's win, John cut our conversation short for a flash of a call, from his rookie partner, on his portable radio and rushed out of my office to his waiting squad car. I didn't ask what had happened, I didn't recognize the call that came in, but I knew some kind of bust was going down and that John had a heavy interest in the case. At the time, I had taken to listening to the police scanner, but if John wasn't going to tell me the particulars about the case, I wasn't going to pry and I purposely turned off the scanner and settled into what was sure to be a long, arduous night, of filing and profiling. _

_ I hadn't expected to be interrupted in my work, I enjoyed having my office all to myself to complete paperwork and spread my work out throughout the office, simply to stretch my wings and not stay in one place too long. By 1:52am, I had nearly finished everything that I had set out to do and though I was starting to feel the day wear on me, something in the back of my mind told me to stay, to keep working and to finish what I had started. Suddenly there was a knocking at my back door, it was 2:30am by this point, and I was suspicious as to who could be calling at the bonds office so early in the morning. It wasn't unusually to get phone calls from prison, but when the office was closed, the office was usually left undisturbed. The knocking came again, in a quick and more frantic pace as I moved cautiously through my office and looked out the peephole to see a man hunched over, clasping is right arm and bleeding. I pulled the door open in the dim light of my security lights and nearly jumped when the man turned his face toward me and Wo Fat started at me in absolute pain and fear._

_ "I didn't know where else to go," he stated as he swayed off balance, bleeding heavily from his shoulder._

_ I had to react to catch him before he fell and pulled him into the office. I didn't know what else to do. I wasn't a doctor, but I had learned enough about shooting victims in the academy. He fell to his knees just past my threshold and ordered me to close the door. I obeyed as if I was still one of his students and then I watched in horror as he ripped at his well tailored suit to get at his wound._

_ "Let me call an ambulance," I stated frantically, but he silenced me._

_ "That won't be necessary," he said. As he sat back on his knees and began breathing, in a way that I had seen him do many times. He was calming himself, gaining control of his body and pushing the pain away. The blood was still running freely down his arm, which was now bare as he had removed all of his upper clothing, and I watched in shock and awe as he pushed and flecked his muscles until the bullet, that had lodged itself in his flesh, felt out. I gasped at the sight and then rushed for my first aid kit. He took it, worked with what little I had, and then stood up again._

_ "I'll be fine," he added as he pulled his shirt back on, staggered a little, but regained his control. He was like superman, or some other mythical creature coming out of the fray and I was so afraid of him in that moment. He put his coat back on, leaned into me, looked into my eyes and kissed me. He then disappeared out the front door leaving a blood stain on my carpet and a bullet laced with his blood._

_ I don't know why I kept that bullet, but I placed it in a plastic forensics bag that I had gained in my training as a cop and stashed it with the bullet I had that had come from my own flesh. I knew I should have turned it into police, should have reported the incidence to someone but I was terrified at what I had witness. Wo Fat had exhibited a feet of super human strength and I believed that it was all a horrible nightmare. The nightmare however was just beginning. Two weeks later, John McGarrett's Chevrolet was in a horrible accident and his wife was killed, and my intuition screamed that it all stemmed from that night._


	24. An Act of Desperation

Chapter 24: An Act of Desperation.

Steve flew out of his office, the diary clutched tightly in his hand as he stomped across the bullpen and flung open Chin's office door without warning. Kono and Danny had witnessed the outburst and followed, cautiously, as they watched Steve reach out, grab Chin by the front of his shirt, and in an act of absolute rage, force the older detective to his feet.

"Did you know about this?" Steve yelled into Chin's face as he slammed the diary down on Chin's desk and forcefully shook Chin.

"Know about what?" Chin asked, his composure shaken by the violence of McGarrett's outburst and the pain that he had caught in McGarrett's eyes.

"This!" Steve yelled flipped open the diary and punched the page that had revealed a moment in Kat's past that hit him like a sucker punch.

"Chin looked down at the diary page, read what he could while Steve still gripped him, chokingly tight, by the collar, and Danny and Kono rushed into his office.

"Whoa, Rambo, we're on the same team, let Chin go!" Danny yelled, but Steve pushed him away, sending Danny backward into Kono and shaking both of their balance.

"I'll shoot you, boss, if you don't let my cousin go!" Kono practically screamed as she drew her weapon but her hands shook so violently that she could hardly hold it out in front of her.

Steve shook with the force of his anger. He looked into Chin's eyes, saw the betrayal and the fear within them and released the man. He stepped back, pushing himself against the wall as Kono rushed past him to Chin's side.

"What the hell is this all about, McGarrett," Danny yelled as he watched the guilt and the remorse come over the Five-O leader as he slid down the wall and sat with his knees pulled up to his chin.

"I didn't know about any of this," Chin said as he closed the diary and sat down.

Danny and Kono eyed the diary with suspicion, but avoided it for fear it would instigate another outburst from the mentally shaken Navy SEAL.

"What happened," Danny asked more calmly now as he moved toward Steve, pulled his partner's weapon from its holster and handed it, across the room, to Kono.

"Here," Steve said, pulled his secondary weapon from its hiding place and passed that along to Danny, his hands shaking now.

"What does the diary say, Chin?" Danny asked as he began to pace.

"It has references to Kat, her involvement with Wo Fat, John McGarrett, and an instinctive connection to the murder of Steve's mother." Chin said, opened the diary again and scanned the entry that had rattled Steve.

"You swear you didn't know?" Steve asked looked pleadingly at the older man in the room.

"I had very little contact with Kat, before I lost my badge. Even then, she never, ever, talked about Wo Fat and she certainly never talked about your mother's accident." Chin confessed.

"It mentions a bullet," Kono said looking over her cousin's shoulder, "that could explain the unknown contributions that Max came across."

"I want to run it against my father's gun," Steve said quietly from his place on the floor.

"All police weapons are registered, it would have found a match when Max first analyzed it," Chin said, the detective in him kicking in.

"Not his secondary weapon," Steve sighed, "I don't think that ones in the system, yet."

"You have it?" Danny asked skeptically.

"You are holding it," Steve sighed.

"This gun right here," Danny asked. "You are using your father's secondary weapon as your own?"

"Yes," Steve stated, "it's all I really have left, Danny. It was a part of who he was as a cop."

"John McGarrett was given that gun by his chief when he first entered the force; he made it a kind of tradition to give a similar weapon to his subordinates. I have one very much like it, and Steve gave you one, Cuz, when you graduated." Chin smiled at the recollection and the current tradition that had become rooted in the family.

Danny sighed, shook his head and walked out of the office.

Steve stood up, apologized briefly to Chin, and followed Danny out, "Danny wait, what if my father was the one that shot Wo Fat," Steve asked, a child like quality in his voice now.

"Then he shot a suspect," Danny stated, "its all in the line of duty Steve," he continued with more anger now, "but you, you just attacked a co-worker, your father's partner and rookie, in the name of what? Revenge?" he asked.

"I reacted to my situation poorly," Steve admitted.

"You think?" Danny asked, "Maybe its time to rethink your position on this case, McGarrett, before you kill one of the people that you are supposed to trust."

"Chin was mentioned in the Diary," Steve stated angrily in his defense.

"And don't you think, with all that you and your father have done for Chin that he would have told you, up front, and in the beginning, if he had any clues as to what happened to your parents. You chose him for this team because your father trusted him, because you trust him and you throw that out the window because some woman wrote about him in her diary?" Danny yelled.

"I'm sorry," Steve said lowering his eyes.

"Don't apologize to me, you have to make this right with Chin," Danny stated shaking a finger in Steve's face, "and for the record, you are too emotionally involved now. You had better rethink your position, because I'm questioning your judgement and I'm the one who has to cover your tail if you run into things without thinking." He added, turned to his own office and slammed the door in Steve's face.


	25. An Apology

**A/N: Happy Wednesday Everyone. Well, I will say that progress toward the end of this story is right on schedual for my Monday May 16th deadline. Yes, I made the day of the finale for season one my deadline so that I don't have to cry over how things ended and worry about my story at the same time. So here are 4 more chapter, ripe and ready for reading, and I hope you like them.**

**As Always, I don't own anything.**

**Thank you to everyone who has been following this story and commenting. You make me so happy! I do this for you! Enjoy.**

Chapter 25: An Apology.

Steve watched Danny through the blinds of his office for a long moment. The Jersey Detective was clearly agitated and upset. Steve was upset too. He had never heard Danny so adamant before about his involvement on a case and the anger and distrust that had popped up because of Steve's actions wasn't good for any of them. He turned slowly when he caught Danny shooting him an angry look and waving him away as he sat down at his desk. Steve obeyed for the moment. He knew that any further discussion with Danny would only lead to more yelling and anxiety so he turned toward the older member of the team and the rookie who glared at him in disbelief from behind the closed door.

"Can I talk to you?" Steve asked, his head down as he opened the glass door to Chin's office but didn't enter.

"What else could you possibly have to say?" Kono asked taking the defensive again and walking around the desk, once more, to stand at her cousin's side.

"Kono, it's alright," Chin stated and motioned for Steve to take a seat on the sofa before his desk. "Why don't you go and run the gun," Chin added as he looked up at Kono, "and get a DNA sample from our suspect."

"You sure, Cuz," Kono asked eyeing McGarrett with trepidation.

"We still have a case to solve," Chin answered with a nodded. "I'd also suggest you give McGarrett back his service weapon. He seems calmer now."

Kono looked with uncertainty from McGarrett to Chin and then back to the officer who was in command. Kono stepped forward, released the clip from McGarrett's weapon and handed him back his gun without its ammunition. She then walked out of Chin's office, placing the full clip to McGarrett's service weapon on Danny's desk as she walked toward her own office. Both Chin and Steve caught the glares that Kono and Danny shot across the office, as an uncomfortable silence fell between everyone on the team.

"I'm sorry, Chin," Steve said after a long silence as he looked up to see the older man starting at him, not in anger, but there was a look of concern and questioning on Chin's face.

"I know you're sorry," Chin said softly, "but what, if anything, spurred this on?" he asked and waited for McGarrett to rack his brain for an answer. When he didn't get one Chin spoke again, "you already know my involvement in your father's case. You know that I worked for Kat and that my job with her was simply as a bounty hunter. Her business wasn't my business, but she was very close with your father and had the utmost respect for him. If Kat's intuition told her that something was going on between Wo Fat and your father, then she was probably right and if she made some decisions that you don't agree with that was her prerogative. You've made plenty of decisions that most people wouldn't agree with, but we don't all chew you out for it. Well, Danny might, but that's because he's your training officer. I've always kept my mouth shut."

"You think Danny is my training officer?" Steve practically chuckled.

"He is, whether you want to see it like that or not, he's the one who is putting all the time in to train you to be a Detective and not a Navy SEAL. He's more than your partner, he's your teacher and your advisor and you, for the most part, go off and do your own thing. If this was any other situation, he would have booted you off the force long ago, sent you back to the navy." Chin stated. "Danny is by the book, he knows what he's doing and he's just like your father was with his rookies. We joke that Kono is our rookie, and she may be, but I'll tell you, she's a detective, and you are a naval officer who still hasn't come to terms with your position as a law enforcement officer."

"That's harsh," Steve sighed.

"It's the truth," Chin said eyeing the youth and indecision in Steve's face, "I know you don't want to hear it, but you've got to because we have to nip some of your behaviour in the bud. It's not my place to interfere with Danny's training, he's got more seniority then I do, cause I was kicked off the force, so you will listen to Danny when he tells you, you are in over your head. He did tell you that; didn't he?" Chin asked.

"He told me I was too emotionally involved and that, that was going to test his trust," Steve admitted.

"He's not lying, Steve," Chin sighed, "we're all going to think twice now, and that's not how a team should be run; especially when we are faced with something as serious as life and death."

"I wasn't thinking," Steve sighed.

"You need to break that habit, take a moment to think before you react. Sometimes your reactions are spot on, but sometimes, they put all of us in danger." Chin stated.

"I understand," Steve said.

"Good, that's the last you'll hear from me on the subject. I'm just your subordinate. So, here is the diary, you had better think about what you want to believe and what you want to react to in here. It's only going to get worse." Chin said handing the little leather book back to Steve.

"You've read ahead?" Steve asked as he hesitantly took the diary from Chin.

"I remember some pretty sketchy times for Kat, but she didn't talk to anyone but your Father about them." Chin admitted as Danny walked across the bullpen and pulled open the office door.

"Come on Chin, we've got a suspect in custody and an interrogation to administer." Danny stated as he tossed the clip of McGarrett's weapon back to his partner, but did not address him.

"What do you want me to do, Danny?" Steve asked as Chin looked at him with hesitation and then followed Danny out of the office.

"Take a break and give Kono a hand when she comes back," Danny stated shortly and walked away with Chin.

Steve sighed, stood from his place on the sofa in Chin's office and took himself off to his own.


	26. Life 7 Honolulu 2001

Chapter 26: Life #7 Honolulu 2001

_Between 1992 and 1998 life was pretty simple. I worked, I helped people and I pushed the events of the past as far from my mind as I could. A dark cloud had descended upon John and his family and I knew, although he believed he was doing the right thing, it tore him apart to send his children away. I thank God he had family to take them, but he should have kept them with him. His son was nearly my age when I first ran away and I worried for the young man. I knew what my life had been like in those first years away from my family, living in fear, but I don't think young Steven knew about the true nature of the case. _

_ Throughout the six years of calm and quiet much had happened in my life that was good and bad. I still received letters from the anonymous Italian but I never wrote back. I was shot, I had recovered and I saved a life all at the same time. I even listened to the chatter and the rumors of the island and learned my way through their language and their secrets. I had heard a lot about Wo Fat the entrepreneur in that time, but I also heard from the shadows the terrible things he was doing and a part of my heart died to him. We crossed each others paths on several occasions but I'm sure my gaze was accusing and angry. I didn't trust him and he didn't trust me and he never sought me out again or came around my office when I was working. We had always been of different worlds, now more than ever, I needed to stay away from him, but sometimes I felt like he was always watching. I knew it to be true, I caught him staring, I saw him in shadows of busts I was working on, but he would always vanish without a trace. I had talked to John about him, and I had seen the displeasure and concern in his eyes at the mention of such a man, but I didn't have any proof to give to John and I still held onto the bullet without giving up its secrets._

_ In 1998 John came to me again, dragging with him a disgraced and broken young man whom he had trained into a good cop and who had lost his badge. I had seen the rookie before, but I didn't know his story. John brought me Chin Ho in his hour of disgrace and I picked him up. The boy had his training, he had years of police work under his belt and I was always looking for someone with a little experience for my team. I didn't ask any questions about his past, why he lost his badge, I could tell that Chin Ho wasn't going to trust very easily, but John assured me he was a good man and wrongfully accused. It wasn't until years later that Chin Ho confided in me. I promised to keep his secret, but knowing what he had done only made me respect him more. He was noble, he was kind and he trusted me and I trusted him. Perhaps not enough, but I did trust him to do his job and give the second chances that people deserved. _

_ John often came around, as he had before, and more often then not I believed he was coming to check on Chin. We still met in secret, talked of my case and my fears, but my life was now well routed in Hawaii and I became more confident in myself and what I was doing. John was still a good friend, but his wife's death had changed him. Made him hard of heart and with the retreat of his children his work was all he had left. I think he held onto Chin Ho and myself as part of what he once was, but he had changed and became blindly passionate about his work and the cases that he got involved with._

_ The new millennium brought with it brilliant hopes and dreams for the future. I was happy, I loved my life and my work, and my business was booming. I had opened my boxing gym and spent countless hours working with less fortunate kids and John was often with us in the ring. Aside for being a great cop he was a spectacular teacher and the kids loved him. It warmed my heart to see him soften to the children, but there was always a cloud that followed him around. _

_ One day, late in the summer of 2000 I was silently working at my desk when I heard the sound of my returning crew. They had court appearances to make and people to bail out and I was working diligently one my paperwork when Chin Ho brought into my office a young man who made my heart stop. He looked exactly like Giovanni the last time I had seen him. Chin sat the boy down before me at the desk, looking every but the serious figure of authority and said, "This is Kat, she'll be your salvation if you want a second chance and know how to be appreciative," he had stated and the boy watched him with eyes of fear and anxiety._

_ "What's your name, son?" I asked the young man, trying to push through my discomfort._

_ "Anthony Valentella," the boy answered._

_ "And what is your crime?" I asked._

_ "Breaking and entering," he sighed as he looked at his feet._

_ "You know you have done wrong, Anthony," I said to him, softly, like I spoke to most of the young men who came into my office looking for my help._

_ "Yes, I know," he answered._

_ "I'll bond you out, but you have to make things right," I said._

_ The boy nodded, gave me his word, but I didn't believe him. He was a Valentella, in Hawaii and was already well on his way to participating in the family business. But this was my blood and I couldn't turn a boy away when I knew there were other people for whom I had bailed out and who had all but slighted me. I nodded at Chin, he motioned for the boy to leave my office and he followed him out. I knew that Chin was perfectly capable of handling the bond, but Chin knew that I liked to see the young ones to see if I could talk some sense into them. I didn't want to talk to the Valentella, my judgement toward them had always been negative and although I wanted to see him as just another unfortunate boy caught up in wrong doings, I only saw Giovanni and my father staring at me._

_ My office door closed behind Chin Ho and I reached for my phone in panic to call the one person I truly trusted. John McGarrett. _

_ John, as always, looking into my fears, saw what I had become and reassured me that I would be alright. The boy didn't know my real name, he hadn't ever known me in his life time, but he was my nephew and the fear that my family was on the island was enough to make me uneasy. John did everything he could to look into the Valentella's in Hawaii and found that a few of them had come to settle, but that there wasn't any real threat that he could see. I believe they were covering their track at this point, but I didn't want to question John's abilities. I carried on with my life. Anthony served his bond, paid his money, and went to every court date he needed until he was free from the charges. I hoped that I would never have to see him again._

_ Against my better judgement I wrote a letter to my Italian correspondent, one of the few that I had ever written and received a reply quickly. I knew in that moment who was writing to me. Who had been watching out for my secrets and though I wanted to reach out, to thank her and see her, I avoided contact. I had always trusted my Nona, but I didn't want her to connect me with the family, but knowing she had settled in Hawaii and that she was still, at nearly one hundred years old, living lifted my spirits._

_ Again trouble came in 2001. It was only days after the New Year had dawned but I was already busy preparing for my upcoming cases and for a boxing tournament I had been dreaming up and that was finally coming to fruition. I was at the gym late into the night had seen the strange black SUV parked in my back parking lot when I finally closed the gym and retired to my office. Darkness had fallen, I was left alone and the uneasiness of being watched caught me. I locked myself into my office and for the first time in years I took my pistol from its case, loaded it and left it on my desk as I continued to work. _

_ The knock that startled me out of my work, brought my instincts into play. I grabbed my pistol, stuffed it into the small of my back and walked to the door to see what was going on. Standing, just beyond my locked door was Wo Fat once again. He looked calm, peaceful and he knew that I was looking at him through the peep hole. He knocked again softly before he stood back, showed his hands to the door and waited._

_ "I don't want you here," I said to him as I opened the door._

_ "I have information for you," he stated, but did not cross the threshold of my door._

_ "What kind of information?" I asked._

_ "It's about your brothers," he said and my heart stopped. _

_ I stood aside, he walked into my office and I closed and locked the door behind us, but I was afraid, I didn't know what else to do. I knew that if all that I had heard about him was right, I could be in grave danger. If he wanted to hurt me, I could never beet him in hand to hand combat, so before he turned around to look at me I drew my weapon, aimed it at his heart and just waited._

_ "I can see that I have lost your trust," he said with a sigh, staring down the barrel of my gun. "I was under the impression that you would never live your life by the weapon. I admired that about you. I see I was wrong."_

_ "Do you deny the rumors about you, that you are a murderer?" I asked him, ignoring the censure in his eyes._

_ "Until you have seen with your own eyes, why to you judge?" he asked._

_ "I know what you are capable of. I have seen you fight. I have seen you shot. What else am I to believe?" I asked, my hand shaking._

_ "Believe that I would never hurt you, Katherine," he said. "Believe that you have done for me what no one else has ever done and so I will do for you what no one has done. I will give you protection that you have never had. I loved you once, I love you still, but I know that my life is not meant to be your life." he said._

_ I felt the tears rolling down my cheeks. I felt the calmness that his voice had always brought to my spirit, but I could not move my gun from its placed aimed at his heart. Why was he telling me these things? Wo Fat had never given me reason to doubt what he said to my face. He had never lied to me directly, but he never really told me anything either and though my heart loved him, my instincts told me he was right, my life was not his life. I would never go back to the organized crime that my family stood for and from what I had heard; I knew that he was in the same line of business. I sighed, I dried my tears with the sleeve of my shirt, but I did not relax._

_ "What is the news you bring to me?" I asked, trying to change the subject and I saw the hurt flash across his face._

_ "Your brother Ricardo has settled in Hawaii with his daughters, your grandmother and his sons. I believe Giorgio Capone has been here for many years as well and he knows what you have become. They know you live, they know you have ties to law enforcement and they are still filled with anger and contempt toward you. Today, contrary to my intelligence, Giovanni Valentella arrived to initiate this sect of their organization. The Valentella Family plans to take roots in Hawaii and continue their drug and arms business here. They are also branching into the black market and human trafficking." Wo Fat stated as he put his hands into his pant pockets and stood, casually, before me._

_ "Why?" I asked. I couldn't form any other coherent statements as my heart broke all over again._

_ "Business expansions," Wo Fat stated. "Perhaps they needed to break away from your father."_

_ "They will come looking for me," I said, determination in my voice now._

_ "You will go to John McGarrett and you will tell him everything I have told you, but you will not tell him that I was the man who gave you the information." Wo Fat stated._

_ "I'll leave the islands," I said shaking my head, the voice was back telling me to run._

_ "No, you will be protected here, you will stay." Wo Fat stated and pulled from his pocket a pair of plastic bags. In them were two bullets._

_ "What are those?" I asked eyeing the bullets with distain._

_ "Leverage," he answered, "one was from a body that Giovanni left in his wake, one grazed your brother's arm and now hold his DNA. He knows that they are in my procession and he knows that I came here to you. Now you will give these to your friend and confidant, McGarrett, and you will hold it over your brother's head. This evidence will have him accused of murder in the State of Hawaii, within the very first day he was here. I do not believe he will be staying here now, but you will not chase Ricardo away. He and Capone are ready to act as liaisons to your father's crime organization, and plan to stay on the island. John McGarrett is one of the primary detectives in the violent and organized crime in Oahu. He will soon know about them, and they will know about him, and he will give you protection. So long as McGarrett is working for Honolulu Police Department, the Valentella's will not touch you. You're connections with the right side of the law are too strong for them to come against at this time. "_

_ "Who shot my brother?" I asked my heart racing as I stared down at the bullets in my hands._

_ "I did," he answered and stepped forward, grabbed my hand and placed the plastic bags in it and then walked past me out the door. _

_ My mind was full of questions, but I did as I was told, and I called John and told him everything, including what I was not supposed to tell him. I confessed that the man giving my information was Wo Fat, as I had done before, and John went to work directly on the case of the Valentella's in Hawaii._


	27. Leverage

Chapter 27: Leverage

Steve sighed as he placed the diary down on his desk, open, and laid his head on the cool surface. His head had started to ache, his adrenalin was now giving way to fatigue and the ringing that had persisted in his ears from the day before had grown louder once again. Steve thought long and hard about his over reaction, and his jumping to conclusions, and he knew that what was written in the diary was the truth. He knew his father well enough, even though he hadn't really seen him since 1992, to know that John McGarrett was relentless. If Kat's case had any connections to the one that he had been working on, that ultimately caused his death, then he would have made those connections.

Suddenly Steve felt sorry for the woman again. He had hated her, just as he had been angry and felt betrayed by Chin, but he could have known more had he simply read on. His nerves were calmed now, he knew he had done wrong and he would have to work twice as hard to build up the trust within his team once again.

Danny had always been right, had always said the right things and though he said them, sometimes, in a way that just made Steve feel like he was being disobeyed, he realized that, had he been in Danny's shoe, he would have been feeling the same way. He wasn't sure, just yet, what he was going to do to regain the trust, but he knew that he had to do something. He would have to make things right with Chin, more than he tried, but he would also have to calm Kono's anxiety and Danny would have to know that he was prepared to work as a detective and follow through with Danny's training.

Picking up the Diary again and flipping back a few pages, Steve reread what had just played out before him. He knew that one of those bullets, one of the ones that were not identified, had come from Wo Fat's gun. His instincts were now telling him that someway, somehow, that was the gun that killed his father. But more questions started to arise. Why, if Wo Fat believed Kat to be protected by her friendship with his father, would Wo Fat ultimately kill John himself; or rather have someone else kill him with Wo Fat's weapon?

The cases that started to intertwine were far too personal, but that was the only reason Steve had come back to Hawaii. Under any other circumstances he would have returned, directly, to active duty after the funeral, but this case, his father's case, had changed the course of his career and proved to Steve once again that what Chin had just told him was true. He had to see past all of his training to the new world he had been dumped into. If he couldn't regain the trust of his team, then he would return to the navy once he had finally solved his father's case, and leave Five-O in the capable hands of the three detectives he had hand picked.

Steve looked up from the diary as the door to his office opened, expecting to see one of his team members, but instead Wo Fat stood before him, alone.

"I am a little surprised to find you in such a state, McGarrett," Wo Fat stated as he watched Steve reach for the ammunition for his weapon, "not a friend in sight I see. I suppose it is the perks to being the boss." He added as he sat down in one of the leather chairs before Steve's desk. "Nice fish tank, that's new." He added making small talk.

"What are you doing here?" Steve asked clearly uneasy by the presence and lack of his team. With all of the hypotheses and conclusions he was pulling together, the presence of such a man as Wo Fat was even more unnerving.

"I'm checking up on you," Wo Fat stated, "I watched all your team members leave and I thought you might like come company. Now, back to the fish tank, that wasn't here on my last visit."

"No it wasn't," Steve stated impatiently as he moved to stand but Wo Fat stopped him by pulling a weapon from his inner pocket.

"Come, come, McGarrett, we are gentlemen here, engage in conversation, or at least make like you are going to play this game." Wo Fat stated waving his weapon to make McGarrett sit down.

"I have nothing I want to say to you," McGarrett stated, seething with hatred.

"I was hoping we could have a nice, calm conversation," Wo Fat stated waving his gun around, "but you just don't want to cooperate. I could just shoot you and put you out of my misery, but then this case that needs rectification would fall by the weigh side and I just can't have that happen."

"You know I have enough evidence to hold you under suspicion of murder, my father's murder," Steve stated, "and if you shoot me you will not get out of the palace alive."

"I did not shoot your father," Wo Fat laughed, "Victor Hesse did. You closed that case with testimony from yourself. You heard the whole thing happen, didn't you? That's what you wrote in your police report. What could your possible have on me?"

"I have evidence enough," Steve stated his blood boiling to hear Wo Fat's familiarity with his father's murder case.

"I'm not surprised that you have 'evidence'. That's your job now. It was your father's job as well and Kat's, but she did it behind peoples backs." Wo Fat stated. "I see you've been reading a fair ladies diary, have you solved the case by her words alone?" he asked. "Her written accounts aren't enough to hold me, so you had better have something else."

"I know what roll you played in all this and my evidence against you is growing," Steve hissed.

"I'm sure you do, but you know I am innocent of the crime in question. I did not kill Katherine Valentella or John McGarrett for that matter," he said with half a smile. "But I think I know who did." He smiled devilishly.

"We have Ricardo Valentella in custody," Steve stated.

"Took a fifty, fifty chance on that one didn't you?" Wo Fat asked, "Well, I hope he give up his information in time for you to stop the real murderer."

"You think its Giovanni?" Steve asked.

"I've been in my business a long time, McGarrett, all around the world and I make it my business to know who else is encroaching on me. Giovanni Valentella holds a very serious grudge." Wo Fat stated.

"Why should I believe that?" Steve asked.

"I'm sure it will say something or other about it in that diary you are reading," Wo Fat smiled, "or perhaps your New Jersey partner has some intuition to share with you. Either way, you may have missed your shot. My intell tells me that Giovanni Valentella will be boarding the family jet back to Chicago tonight, as soon as he gets his brother out of here." He stated, pocked his weapon and stood to leave.

"I'm not going to just let you walk out of here," Steve hissed in an attempt at intimidation.

"Oh yes you are," Wo Fat sighed as he pulled from his pocket and envelope and placed it on Steve's desk. "That right there is a letter from the head of the Valentella crime organization, as you can see it is sealed with the family crest, a crest I believe you have in your procession. It may give you some answers. It may not. I hope you have someone who can read it for you."

"You're not going to shoot me?" Steve asked as he too stood.

"You've not outlived your usefulness. You're almost there, but not quite. Besides, I know you want a bullet from my gun, and I just don't feel like giving it to you today. So unless you are going to shoot me for a DNA sample, I bit you adieu." Wo Fat stated, nodded to McGarrett and walked out of the Five-O offices.


	28. Into Action

Chapter 28: Into Action.

Kono walked into the Five-O Bullpen to find Steve pacing the length of the room. He stopped when his saw her, slammed the envelope down on the Smart Table and she took a defensive stance as he came toward her.

"You had better calm down right now, McGarrett, or I will beet the living crap out of you," Kono stated.

"I know you will," Steve said as he raised his hands to surrender, "I'm not going to do anything that I am going to regret. I'm only looking to put some pieces together before we run out of time." He added.

"What are you talking about?" Kono asked and relaxed slightly.

"What did you find?" Steve asked.

"The bullet with the unknown DNA contribution did match your father's secondary weapon," Kono stated handing the file to Steve.

"He shot Wo Fat," Steve stated.

"We can't conclusively say that without a positive identification through DNA, but yes, that's what it looks like." Kono said. "What's with the envelope?" she asked and watched as Steve shuddered. "What's going on, Steve?"

"Wo Fat was just here," Steve stated, "he left this, it's in Italian so I have no idea what it says."

"He was here?" Kono asked in shock, "and you didn't detain him."

"He pulled a gun on me," Steve sighed.

"That's never stopped you before," Kono stated.

"He gave me information into the case," Steve said and began his pacing again, "I don't have any conclusive evidence against him. I can't hold him, well I probably could for something, but I don't know. Am I loosing my mind?"

"Maybe," Kono sighed as she took the envelope from Steve and looked it over. "What did he say to you?"

"It could all be lies, I don't know what to believe, but what he said was in line with what we already know, and what Danny's instincts were telling us as. He believes that Giovanni is the killer." Steve stated.

Kono sighed, pulled up as much information on Giovanni as she could and even pulled credit card records. "We'll we know he is on the island now. I can cross reference with his credit card purchases to see if he was here before."

"I don't think you'll find anything there, but I have a strange feeling that we'll find answers in the letters." Steve sighed.

"Then we need Danny," Kono stated. "I could try to decipher them with the computer, but really someone with fluency in the language will be much quicker."

"I know," Steve sighed and resumed his pacing.

"What are you thinking Steve?" Kono asked, worry in her tone now.

"I'm pretty sure that Kat's grandmother was the one that recognized her and was corresponding with her. I think if anything, the old woman was trying to warn her granddaughter." Steve sighed.

Kono clicked away at the Smart Table and sighed when the picture of the eldest Valentella popped up. "Francesca Gloriana Aquino-Valentella died on February 14th, 2002 at the ripe old age of 109 years old. She was predeceased by her husband Anthony, sister Vivica and granddaughters Isabella and Katherine." Kono stated reading from the obituary. "She is buried in the King Kamehameha cemetery, Oahu, Hawaii. How did you ever put that together?" Kono asked.

"It's in the diary." Steve sighed and turned sharply as the doors to the office swung open.

"We have to move now," Danny stated as he and Chin rushed into the office.

"The DNA wasn't a match to Ricardo, he's being released." Chin stated.

"Wo Fat was here, dropped this off, can you read it Danny?" Steve asked snatching he envelope out of Kono's hands and handing it over to his partner.

"He was here?" Chin asked, "Again."

"He waited till you all left and then came in," Steve stated. "He's been watching our every move and has been two steps head of us this whole time. He believes that Giovanni will be leaving Oahu tonight, on a private family jet, with his brother Ricardo."

"Sounds like guilt to me," Chin stated.

"Chin, Kono, see if you can get a handle on that plane." Steve stated. "Danny, I need you to tell me what is in that letter." He added and pointed at the envelope in his hand.

"Alright," Danny stated and scanned the letter. "This letter if from Alonzo Valentella to Wo Fat. It's an invitation for collaborations in Hawaii. He is to meet with the brothers to negotiate the partnership in organ and human trafficking. The meeting was set for today." Danny said as he looked up at Steve.

"He was leaving the meeting when we crossed paths with him," Steve stated.

"He's also just handed over the Valentella's to you," Danny stated.

"Why would he want to share profits with another crime organization?" Steve asked. "Better question, why would he want to meet with a man he's already shot?"

"Who shot who?" Danny asked.

"Come here," Steve stated and led Danny into his office. He flipped through the diary, pointing out the passage, "Wo Fat shot Giovanni on his first visit to Oahu. He left the bullet with Kat as leverage against her family. She was told to get my father involved in the case so that she would have protection while they were trying to establish their organization in Hawaii."

"Good call, put the police heat on the family before they can do anything," Danny said nodding.

"I think that's why Kat lived so long." Steve stated. "Once my father was killed, her connections to HPD were gone and her brothers could reap their revenge at last. But I think Kat's grandmother warned her. I think that's in the letters and I think that is why Kat gave in so willingly to working with us."

"Because you and Five-O could pick up where John McGarrett left off." Danny stated.

"Exactly," Steve stated, "and now that they know we are onto them, they are trying to flee Hawaii."

"Why else would you leave your organization unattended? We have all the other major players in custody." Danny stated.

"My thought's exactly, but I don't think they were betting on us getting this involved or they would have never contacted Wo Fat to put these new 'business ventures' into progress." Steve stated. "Or they underestimated Wo Fat."

"I think you're right." Danny stated, "But why would Wo Fat come to you?"

"He told me I was still useful." Steve stated. "And I think I'll remain useful until we take down the whole of the Valentella organization in Hawaii. We're nearly there."

Danny nodded his agreement, "Why was he protecting Kat?" he asked.

"He loved her," Steve said, "and she never turned him in. He knew he could go to her and get help anytime he needed it, but he also knew that she would never stand for the things that he did. I think, to an extent, she was too afraid of him and on the other hand, she felt like she owed him something."

"So they were lovers in a dangerous time?" Danny asked half mockingly.

"That's not funny," but Steve smiled all the same.

"Nicely done, McGarrett, looks like you may have learned something after all," Danny smiled and headed back out into the bullpen.


	29. Life 8 Honolulu 2009

**A/N: Here is tonight/today's offering to the fiction gods! **

**Thank you everyone for reading you're all awesome.**

**As always, I don't own anything. SAD.**

**These next three chapters are heading into the final three. I should have those posted tomorrow or saturday hopefully. I'm really happy that I will be meeting my deadline. **

**Enjoy**

Chapter 29: Life #8 Honolulu 2009

_I really took control of my own life in the years ten years that accompanied my knowing that my brothers had come and settled themselves and their organization in Hawaii. Wo Fat had given me leverage and John McGarrett had given me the courage to stand up for what I became. I was open and vocal about organized crime and the drug trade in Hawaii. I had put myself on a crusade to end the virus that was meth use on the islands and I knew, if anything, my brothers had seen me for what I was. _

_My business was booming and I was capturing fugitives wherever I could. I know I took down people in both my brother's organization as well as Wo Fat and I stayed in the loop. I had friends now in the lowest of low places and friends up in high ones as well. I became bolder, cocky even, when it came to what I did and how I did it. I was quoted about refusing to carry a gun, even though I had one and people knew where it had come from. My focus fell on becoming in the best in my business and my crew was renowned for their efficiency. Notches in my belt, I had many of them, and my clients knew that if you burned me for the money, I'd catch you in their lies._

_Chin Ho rose through the ranks of my crew until he sat beside me, most of the time, and ran in covering my back. He was passionate about the cases and the ties that had disgraced his name and I knew that somewhere out there he was doing his own investigation, just as John would have done. I knew that John and Chin spent a lot of time together when they were not working, and John was always ready to lend a hand with my crew when I felt like I needed just that one more man; just a little more back up. John was a good Bounty Hunter and he knew it, but his passion was law enforcement even though he saw the corruption growing within the force. I knew that he was making headway on his cases, he was obsessed with links with in it and it wasn't until later that he brought to me the name that was now and forever connected with the Asian mobs. _

_The name had been thrown around a lot in those days as the Yakuza began to flex it muscles in and around Hawaii. John knew that they had been present for a long time, but more and more the ancient ties that I had seen in China and other Asian cities were starting to fall into place. As much as I hated the idea of falling back into the world of my family, I had come to know the signs and the clues that pointed to all forms of mob relations and I had many, many clients that had gang and mafia ties. These were the people that I devoted that little bit extra to. I wanted to give them a way out, the way out that I was never given, and as I worked and promoted my stance against organized crime, John McGarrett backed me up._

_I would be lying if I didn't say I was threatened in those days by men whom I knew were big wigs in many of the crime family. I wasn't afraid of them anymore, I couldn't be, I had come to the realization that some day, some time I would die and if it was because of my job, or just in old age I would accept it willingly. I was now, in 2002, becoming woman of age and wisdom. I had two years to fifty and I was happy that I had made it past my thirtieth birthday. What more could I have wanted? _

_In January of 2002 I received the last letter I would ever get from my Italian correspondent and in that letter the confessions that my Nona made warmed my heart. I heard in that letter her voice, a voice I remembered from my first visit to Sicily. She told me that she was proud that I had escaped, that I had moved onward from that place of darkness into something of true light and I was happy that she was able to know that I had done well for myself. She died in February, on Valentines Day, and John and I were present at the funeral. I didn't speak to my brothers or any other members of my family but I faced them then. I looked into all of my brothers eyes. I saw my aging father and he stared at me as if he had seen a ghost. I knew he knew I was alive, though his had come to terms with my death, but there was a look in his eyes that hated me and I knew that the family was ashamed. To them Katherine Valentella was dead and Katherine Smith was an enemy. I took pride in knowing that they hated me. I wanted them to feel the same hatred that I had felt. The captivity that they had put me through, I was an independent woman and I was pleased to carry a badge and work against everything they stood for._

_It was hard for me to believe, even after looking into my father's eyes, that I was calm and resigned to the idea of the fear that they had caused me. I wanted to be fearless and I just decided to be that way. I worked hard, I had been shot at more times than I could remember and all of the bullets that had ever pierced my skin were in my procession like trophies of the things that I had endured. I had lived, not as a Valentella, but as my own person, developed from the ashes and smoke of a horrible past. I was happy in Hawaii, it was my home and when I looked at the men, boys, children that I worked with, that came to me for support and comfort, I knew I had found my rightful place. I was respected and praised for my hard work and honors were bestowed upon me that I still don't believe I deserved but for which drove me to work even harder for the people of Hawaii._

_In late 2009 Wo Fat came to me again after I had taken down a large portion of his organization and their drug rings. I didn't want the drugs on my streets and I was prepared to put every last accused person in jail for their crimes against the young and the old. He came to me, much in the same way he had before, but on that day he brought with him another man, a man that I did not recognize and although I was outnumbered two to one in my own office, I stood my ground. I knew that they both could have shot me and killed me at any time they wanted, but I was ready for that._

_Wo Fat walked into my office, leading his associate and sat down before my desk. There was an air about him that I really did not like, and although I had butterflies in my stomach to see him again, I wasn't going to let feelings break my exterior while there was a stranger in my office._

_"I have come to tell you to back away from your investigations into the Yakuza." Wo Fat stated as he colleague stood in the door way._

_"I don't investigate; I just pick up the money that has run from me." I told him seriously. "If there is a warrant and a reward to be had, I'm on it like ants to sugar."_

_"You have been giving information to John McGarrett about some very important people." Wo Fat accused._

_"You told me to keep John McGarrett in the loop. You didn't specify which information I should share and what I should not," I told him._

_"I told you not to talk about me," Wo Fat hissed._

_"I don't talk about you," Kat stated, "I may have long ago, but you are not a part of my life now, so I don't see the need to talk about you."_

_I saw something like pain, shock, and distrust flash across his face as his friend reached for his weapon._

_"Victor, stay calm," Wo Fat stated as the trigger clicked into place, "I've told you, she is not to be harmed by a single member of our organization. Not under any circumstances."_

_"She works with McGarrett," Victor hissed._

_"We are friends and colleagues, occasionally he works with me, but I am not part of John's squad, nor do I ever wish to be." I stated looking at the one called Victor and waiting to see what his eyes would tell me. The man in my doorway became uneasy. It was clear he had never been addressed in such a way, by a woman, before. I asserted my dominance in the situation and although the man who stood and paced in my doorway put his weapon away, Wo Fat smiled at me without looking back at his colleague._

_"You've learned much about independence," Wo Fat smiled as he looked across my desk at me._

_"I know when to be dependent and when to be assertive; I'm not a child anymore." I assured him._

_"I am pleased to see it." He smiled, then, turning to his colleague, he ordered Victor to stand in the other room while we spoke privately. _

_I didn't like the idea of being alone with Wo Fat, but I nodded my agreement to the plan and watched as Victor hesitantly walked out of my office and closed the door behind him._

_"I have come to warn you," Wo Fat stated as the door was closed behind his colleague, "that I have set into motion some events that you will not like, but for which you can change, if you obey me."_

_"Obedience to men who demanded it has never been something I gave into easily." I said my tone cold and harsh._

_"I know, that's what I love about you, but this is far bigger than you, or me. You must stop sharing evidence with McGarrett as it pertains to the Yakuza." He stated._

_"I told you already, I just arrest people for their wrong doings." I stated, "I don't collect evidence and I don't share evidence."_

_"In many cases a few hints is worth a million words. Understand that I admire the relationship that you have developed with John McGarrett and his disgraced partner Chin Ho Kelly, but he is getting too close to too many things that are beyond your control." Wo Fat stated._

_"I don't know what he is investigating," I said, my voice was hushed and worry had certainly flooded into my face._

_"I believe you," Wo Fat stated, "you have never given me reason to doubt, but I can tell you that he is into something that he should have stayed away from when his wife died. You will talk to him. You will tell him to let the case go, or the series of events that had been put into action will take place and you will not be able to stop them."_

_"What have you done?" I asked my resolve to remain unfeeling changing for shock and fear._

_"Get John McGarrett off of my trail or I will have him killed," Wo Fat stated as tears began to roll down my cheeks._

_He stood from his seat, walked to my door, bowed and left my office for the very last time._


	30. Plane to Catch

Chapter 30: Plane to Catch.

Danny watched McGarrett, conspicuously, from his place with Chin and Kono in the bullpen. They had been racking through everything that they could, while Danny translated manuscripts, order forms and the letters that he had in his possession to try and find one clue, one hint that would lead them to the plane that would take the Valentella brothers back to Chicago. It was clear in his mind, as the evidence was building, that Giovanni had murdered his sister in cold blood, but what he was unclear about was the look and the pain that clearly crossed McGarrett's face as he sat alone in his office still reading that diary.

Danny had sifted through the letters, read the ones that seemed to be the most important and then revisited them now to see if there were any clues. He realized, as later letters became darker, that the letters were from someone within the organization and yet, standing on the side lines. Danny wondered if what Steve had been reading was in line with the letters.

Chin made another comment about private air fields and trying to get other manifests, but Danny had been clearly distracted when he saw McGarrett close the diary and rub at his eyes. He had seen the same sadness and despair when the case first dropped itself in their laps. Something in that diary had turned Steve's countenance on its head. Kono noticed Danny's distraction as her eyes were drawn to their boss and his bent and broken posture.

"I'll check on him," Danny said as he placed the last of the case letters down on the smart table and headed for McGarrett's office.

The soft knock on the glass door broke Steve out of his thoughts as he looked up to see Danny enter his office.

"You might want to close your blinds," Danny said as he reached out and shut the shutters so that Chin and Kono were blocked from view, "your emotional state has become somewhat of a distraction to the rest of the team." He added as he sat down in front of Steve desk and saw the redness that was fighting at the edges of Steve's eyes. "What did you find out?"

"Wo Fat visited Kat in 2009 and told her to talk my father out of his case, or there would be consequences." Steve sighed. "How do you do this? How do you deal with all the betrayals and the lies that look like truths? How do you stay calm when you know, or you've learned things that you've always assumed but never really wished that they would be proven? How do you be a cop on a case that is so personal and look at it without getting emotionally involved? How do you build trust, tear it down and rebuild it when you don't even trust yourself most of the time?" he asked.

"It takes years," Danny sighed. "Under normal circumstances, you wouldn't even be allowed to look into your father's murder because you are family and because you haven't been on the job long enough to deal with these kinds of emotional changes. But, the governor believes that you are the only person worthy of these answers and although you've seen some pretty horrific things in your past career, you need to step back and look at this case through the eyes of someone who isn't involved. As far as this case is concerned, John McGarrett wasn't you father, he was just an officer serving a case that got him killed."

"This case got my mother killed," Steve sighed, "almost got my sister killed and now I'm risking all of you."

"It's our job. You're not risking us, we are. This case got a civilian woman killed, your mother, in the crossfire. She was a casualty of the war on organized crime," Danny said in terms that Steve was capable of understanding. "When you drove through the streets of Kandahar, ready to kill anyone that was encroaching on your convoy, did you think of that woman or that man as a mother or a father, a sister or a brother?"

"No," Steve sighed.

"Exactly," Danny said, "you need to disconnect. It's good that you are seeing all of these connections. It will be beneficial when we go after Wo Fat, when we have the evidence to get him and solve the case, but you can't see him as the target right now. He's a side note, in the case to find Katherine Smith's murderer."

"I understand," Steve stated.

"Good, what else did the diary say?" Danny asked. "Was there anything that pertains to our current state of affairs?"

"Kat was at her grandmother's funeral, faced her family and believes that she saw nothing but hatred in them," Steve said racking his brain for connections, "it may be enough for motive?"

"Well, if she disgraced the family, yeah, and if she was flaunting her new life in front of them, sure," Danny reasoned, "if there is one thing I know about mob relations it is this; you can't get out. Kat was born into the mob, she was meant to stay within the mob."

"You can't choose your family," Steve sighed.

"But you can choose your Ohana," Danny added with an attempt at a smile, "alright Steve, what else was in the diary?" he asked, "build me a case."

"Victor Hesse was in Kat's office with Wo Fat, the last time he visited her. Victor Hesse could have had Wo Fat's weapon." Steve stated.

"Ok," Danny half smiled, "if we got a bullet from his weapon we could match it to the bullet that killed your father. But why, why not just use some other weapon and discard it?"

"For a trophy," Steve asked, "Maybe Wo Fat needs to hold onto something from the people he kills. Maybe his gun is like his sword. So even if he didn't pull the trigger, he's directly responsible for having done the deed."

"So we are dealing with a sociopath?" Danny asked. "you're profiling a serial killer."

"He is a serial killer," Steve stated.

"I think you're right." Danny said after a moment of thought, "he is trained, as you've told us in the ancient arts, he may hold onto his victims as the warriors did. But you said McGarrett was useful, why kill him then?"

"I know, it's strange, then again, he told me I had almost outlived my usefulness." Steve said. "I think my father was useful enough that Wo Fat thought Kat could change his mind and get him to back off. Why else would he go to her and tell her, not in so many words, that he was planning my father's murder?"

"If Wo Fat believed that your father was the only person, openly protecting Kat, then he was useful. Maybe his idea was to con Kat into finally turning her back on her crusade and take on his fight as he once wanted her to. He wanted to marry her; maybe he was still playing at that. Maybe he went to her to give her the ultimatum and he realized that she would never choose him over goodness. But he had to choose between a woman he loved and his organization." Danny stated.

"Choosing greed over love at the cost of a civilian life?" Steve asked.

"At the cost of tying up loose ends," Danny stated.

"That doesn't seem like much of a way to win a woman's heart." Steve said. "It's so corrupt."

"Isn't that just how the world works?" Danny asked.

Steve sighed and placed his head back down on the desk.

"You miss it don't you?" Danny asked eyeing his partner's discomfort.

"Miss what?" Steve asked raising his head to look at Danny.

"The simplicity of war," Danny sighed.

"War isn't simple," Steve stated passionately.

"For some no, but for you, you got orders, you acted on those orders and you protected those you were ordered to protect. Simple." Danny stated.

"It was simpler than this," Steve admitted.

"Ok," Danny said and leaned back in the chair.

"What's with the tone?" Steve asked as he watched his partner staring at him and reading his every move.

"The tone is to tell you I can read you like a book, McGarrett. And the second you solve your father's case you'll have to decide whether or not you'll stay here with us or go back to what you believe you were really good at." Danny stated. "For the record, if you so much as think about ditching out on all the work I have put into making you a detective and a cop, I might shoot you. But, I understand why the thought would cross your mind. I feel the same way about Jersey if Rachel took Grace and moved her back."

"If my team can't trust me, why would I stay?" Steve asked knowing that he had blown a whole in the chain that had connected them.

"They still trust you," Danny said, "because they know what this case is doing to you. You just have to keep building up that trust and proving to them that you are trying, and I know that you are trying, Steven. If you weren't I would have told you to find yourself a new partner when you blew up a door with a fuckin grenade."

"That wasn't a good idea, was it?" Steve asked almost smiling at Danny.

"Nope, a good idea would have been to call in reinforcement to break down the door, or getting a warrant to search the premise, then had the suspect been reluctant you could have used your crazy idea to supersede the warrant." Danny stated.

Steve smiled slightly and laughed, "but it was efficient," he said with a smile.

"Yes, and entertaining, but don't tell anyone I told you that," Danny smiled.

"Thanks, Danny," Steve smiled and rubbed his temples to ease his throbbing headache.

"I'm going to get back to work," Danny said after another long silence spent watching the look on Steve's face change with his thought process.

"Ok," Steve said but was interrupted as the door to his office flew open.

"I think we've got it," Chin stated in the door and ran back out again.

"You ready for action?" Danny asked as he saw the shock on Steve's face.

"Yes, if anything, I'm always ready for that." Steve stated and followed Danny into the bullpen.


	31. Blood on Your Hands

Chapter 31: Blood on Your Hands

"What do you have Chin," Steve asked as he and Danny join Kono and Chin at the Smart Table.

"Kono was searching for every last privately owned airstrip on the island thinking that would be the best bet in locating the plane. She cross referenced any of the air fields that may deal with international flights and when she came up with one that specializes in charters too and from Italy, that red flagged them." Chin explained.

"So I cross referenced private planes coming into Oahu from Chicago with that airfield and departures to Italy and came up with this," Kono stated as she threw a manifest up on the Smart Board.

"That's from 2001," Danny stated.

"The date matched to the diary as the first time Giovanni Valentella came to Hawaii and was shot by Wo Fat. It departed the very next morning, early, for Sicily. Someone running away to get a little injury looked at?" Kono asked.

"I don't like coincidence," Danny stated.

"And check this out," Chin added as he too threw a manifest up onto another screen, "the plane, in question, arrived in Oahu almost a month ago and it hasn't left according to manifests."

"That's about the same time Kat was killed." Steve stated.

"We cross referenced the jet and were able to match it to a company out of Chicago owned by Alonzo Valentella."

"Bingo," Danny stated, "we have a plane to catch."

Danny reached for his phone as Kono, Chin and Steve split up to get ready. Steve was on his cell before he even got into his office demanding back up from SWAT and getting the governor's go ahead. Chin was already calling in all available units within HPD, and Kono was making sure their arsenal was stocked and ready. Danny on the other hand pulled up the air field's number and was struck with the clear Italian voice that answered on the first ring.

Kono, Chin and Steve stared as Danny questions, probed and finagled in flawless Italian on his cell. He hadn't moved from his place by the Smart Table until his call was ended and he took his bullet proof vest from his partner's hands.

"What was that all about?" Steve asked.

"I just calmly ordered the owner of the air field to keep that plane on the ground until we got there." Danny stated.

"That was calmly?" Steve asked amusement on his face.

"In Italian everything seems a little more aggressive," Danny sighed, "and the owner wasn't being exactly cooperative. He didn't like the idea, but it told him that I would be shutting his business down for good and sending him back to Italy for prosecution, if he proceeded in aiding and abetting a fugitive. He tried to call my bluff, I told him the Governor of Hawaii doesn't like criminal in her state and has given me the go ahead to clean up for her and then he crumpled and gave me all the information I wanted. So we had better hurry before Giovanni and Ricardo get wise to us." Danny smiled and rushed from the office with his team.

Sirens creamed into the private air field as the Camaro led the way. Shocked by the sudden arrival of all the law enforcement vehicles the employees of the air field froze as Steve and Danny walked through the primary office space and right up to the man Danny had initially been speaking to.

"In English," Danny stated as the man started to spout off words at the two men who came crashing into his office.

"You get those people off my property before I get into any trouble, I have other flights leaving and I'm on a tight schedule." The elderly Italian man yelled. "I run a good clean business here. I didn't know about any of this."

"Sure you didn't," Danny stated but his tone was accusing.

"Are they here now?" Steve asked seeing the fire in his partners eyes.

"Yes, hanger two has been rented to the same family for years," the man stated. "They are preparing their flight for later tonight."

"You were going to let them leave?" Danny asked angrily.

"No, but I wasn't going to tell them they couldn't prep their plane. I've already pushed back their departure time twice for you people." The old man practically yelled.

"Grazie," Danny stated and he and Steve rushed out.

"Hanger two," Steve stated as they exited the office building and climbed back into the Camaro, sending all of their agents into action together.

The vehicle rushed down the deserted tarmac as they passed the main fueling station and a delivery service before coming across the hangers in question. Hanger one was shut up, lights off and doors locked. Hanger two was fully open with a pair of black Escalades parked beside it. It looked like a bee hive of activity as Steve and Danny jumped out of the Camaro, followed by Kono and Chin and their SWAT back up.

"Five-O! Everyone stop what you are doing and lay down on the ground now!" Steve stated and watched as the shocked employees did as they were told.

Scanning the scene, Chin and Kono realized that there wasn't a Valentella to be found, but the main hatch door to the private jet was open and the lights in the cockpit were on.

"Danny, cover me," Steve stated as they rushed around the jet and up into the passenger area. A quick scan of the interior revealed that there wasn't a person on board.

Danny's instincts kicked into high gear when Steve returned with the all clear. "The escalades," Danny stated and rushed back out of the hanger.

Suddenly a crack like thunder split the air and set Steve into a full on sprint. Outside, back behind the Hanger, past the escalades, Steve was the first to arrive on the scene, to see a man crumple into a pile onto the ground.

"Freeze, don't move," Steve stated as Danny caught up to him.

"Put the weapon on the ground and show us your hands," Danny added as there were still two men standing behind the hanger.

Another shot rang out from the man whose back was to Steve and Danny and they watched in horror as Giovanni Valentella crumpled into a pile on the ground beside his brother.

"You're too late McGarrett," Wo Fat stated as he spun around before Steve and Danny could react. "You've out lived your usefulness." He stated as he rushed forward, firing off two shots and causing both Five-O's to hit the deck to get out of the way.

"Get him Danny," Steve hissed from his place on the ground and watched as Danny spun and fired his weapon at the fleeing Escalade.

More shots were fired as the Escalade flew down the tarmac and out of site, but when Danny realized Steve hadn't gotten up, hadn't followed him and he hadn't heard his partners weapon being fired, his heart sank. "Steve," He called as he rushed back to where the shots had been fired and saw the blood pooling along one side of his partner's body.

"Did you get him?" Steve asked clearly in pain and clutching at a place just below his bulletproof vest.

"He got away," Danny stated, "SWAT is in pursuit."

"Go after him," Steve hissed but crumpled in on himself in pain.

"I need help over here!" Danny yelled as he reached out to his partner and came up with a hand full of blood, "get an ambulance!"

"I gave you an order, Danny," Steve hissed.

"I don't take orders from you, rookie," Danny stated as Kono and Chin came running.

"Oh my god, Steve," Kono gasped at the sight of the wound as she fell to the ground at his side and grasped at the vest to get a better look at the injury.

"This is Officer Kelly, we have an officer down, requesting immediate medical assistance, repeat; we have an officer down!" Chin yelled into his phone as more members of HPD and SWAT came around to see what had happened. "Help is on the way Steve, just stay still." Chin stated towering over his fallen colleague and waving more assistance into the area.

"Check the Valentella's," Steve hissed but was ignored by all three of his partners.

"They're not going anywhere Steve," Danny stated fighting against Steve to keep him still and pressure on the wound. "But you will be if you don't stop struggling and keep your head with you. Stay with me Steven, I'll not have you be another casualty to Wo Fat, that's just not how you are supposed to go. Do you here me."

"You're letting him get away, Wo Fat was the shooter," Steve stated, coughed, and felt the pain of his injuries overcome him once again.

"I let him get away to save my partner's life," Danny stated angrily.

"No man gets left behind, Steve," Kono said softly as he buckled again under the pain.

"Look at me," Danny ordered, "you need to stay with us and stop struggling."

"Wo Fat is getting away." Steve hissed again.

"We'll get him," Danny hissed, "just not today. Today you are more important."

"Thanks Danny," Steve said softly as he caught Danny's eyes for the first time during the whole order. There was fear in the Jersey Detectives eyes, but something else as well. It was trust, and Danny was going to fight every second for Steve.

"Where the hell is that ambulance," he yelled as Steve drifted in and out of consciousness.

"It's here," Chin yelled back as the blue and red lights filled the area and paramedics rushed to Steve's side.

"Get back on the case," Steve said as Kono and Danny stood to let the paramedics take over.

"Danny's going with you," Kono stated forcefully, "Chin and I can handle this."

"Thank you Rookie," Steve tried to force a smile.

"Shut up, boss," Kono smiled and walked off with Chin.

**A/N: Ok So there was a request for Steve Whump and I gave it to you. I hope the Whump gods are sufficently appeased with this. See you in the next chapter!**


	32. Matching Bullets

**A/N: Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who read and commented and alterted this story. You guys are wonderful. Really, I loved hearing from you.**

**So this is one of the last three chapters that have been posted tonight. I hope you enjoy the wrap up. Don't worry I have other story ideas to get down on paper and so there will be more Five-O from me very soon. I hope everyone enjoys the season one finale. **

**I can't believe I actually got this finished before the deadline I set for myself! **

**As always I don't own anything. **

**Thanks for reading!**

Chapter 32: Matching Bullets

Steve awoke from his groggy, anesthetic, induced sleep to the breaking of dawn over the Hawaiian horizon. As the light spread across his hospital room he realized he wasn't alone. To his left, curled up on the window seat and looked tiny, smaller than she had ever looked before, he saw Kono fast asleep. At her feet, Chin sat, his head leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his torso a parchment coloured envelope clutched in his hands. He too was a sleep. To his right, Steve saw his partner, hair a mess, tie loosened, sleeves rolled up, eyes red with fatigue, but Danny was awake and he was staring at Steve.

"How long have you been here?" Steve asked his voice horse as he tried to whisper but the sound came out louder than he had anticipated and stirred Chin out of his sleep.

"Here, drink," Danny said as he stood and poured Steve a glass of water.

"You've returned to us," Chin smiled as he got up and stood by Steve's bed side.

"Cover her," Steve whispered as he lightly kicked at the blanket at the end of his hospital bed and cringed at the discomfort the slight movement caused him.

Danny shook his head, but took the blanket from Steve and covered Kono up before returning to his post beside the bed.

"How long have you been here?" Steve asked again, eyeing Danny and Chin with suspicion.

"All night," Danny whispered. "First in the ER, then in the ICU and then in Post Op, and then finally back here."

"ICU?" Steve asked, "It wasn't that bad was it?"

"The super SEAL is present and in good form," Danny sighed, "yes, it was that bad. You lost a lot of blood. The EMT had to resuscitate you en rout. To clarify, your heart stopped beating!" he practically yelled then covered his mouth as Kono stirred but did not wake up. "You were rushed into surgery once you were stable enough to remove the bullet that had lodged itself into your pelvic bone. It grazed your liver. You are lucky to be alive, McGarrett."

"That doesn't sound right," Steve sighed and rested his head back on his pillow.

"News flash, you're not immortal," Danny hissed.

"But you are a fighter," Chin smiled coming to Steve's defense. "The doctors said if you made it through the night you'd be in the clear."

"Chin and Kono came up to the hospital as soon as I got here myself. I had to tell them that you almost left us in the ambulance. That wasn't fun news to give," Danny hissed again.

"Sorry Danny, next time I'll make sure to stay alive the whole time," Steve teased.

Danny rolled his eyes and continued, "CSI has been covering your crime scene most of the evening." Danny stated, "Both Valentella's are dead, so you made it out of there in better shape than our suspects, but not much better."

"What about Wo Fat?" Steve asked but already knew the answer.

"He got away," Chin said and placed the envelope at Steve's side, "the HPD followed the Escalade as far as they could but he ditched out somewhere along the way and when they finally caught up to the Escalade it had been driven off a pier. The driver is dead."

"Tied up enough loose ends didn't he?" Steve asked with a sigh.

"We'll catch him Steve," Danny said, "he's not going to elude us forever."

"I could have gotten you killed last night, Danny," Steve sighed.

"You took both bullets, one to the vest, and well you know where the other landed." Danny stated and hushed his voice as they all held their breath when Kono stirred on the window seat.

"You realize we now have the bullets we need to match to your father's case?" Chin said optimism always on his voice.

"We do?" Steve asked still a little groggy.

"Yeah, the doctor dug one out of your pelvis!" Danny stated with a laugh, "P.s. no sex for a while, you're going to be kinda sore."

"Catherine's out at sea, so you don't have to worry," Steve joked.

"And the doctor says you need to stay here, so don't even think about getting up and running around," Chin added.

"We were worried you weren't going to make it out of here," Danny sighed.

"Someone get my doctor so he can tell you that I'm fine!" Steve smiled.

"She is going to tell you to stay put," Danny stated with emphasis on the gender of Steve's doctor.

"Oh my god, you're awake!" Kono cried as she jumped up from her place and practically threw herself across the room.

"I'm fine, Kono," Steve smiled.

"Oh yeah, you've just been shot that's all, no big deal." Kono stated sarcastically, a look of disbelief on her face, "and almost died, also not a big deal," she said more angrily now.

"Oh you are going to get it brah," Chin smiled.

"I'm sorry Kono, I didn't mean to scare you," Steve said more tenderly.

"It's the job, just don't go thinking you're getting out of here if the Doctor thinks you need to stay," Kono said as she reached out and wrapped her arms around Steve's neck.

"I'll stay put," Steve said as he hugged Kono back.

"Good to here," The governor stated as she walked into the hospital room flanked by her security detail. "This is for you, Detective," she said handing over an envelope to Danny, "and as for you, McGarrett, it's good to see you awake. You looked terrible last night."

"You were here?" Steve asked.

"I came as soon as I got word," Jameson stated. "you're kinda my main man, my pet project, within HPD, and I need to have my team in top condition, though I'm sure Detective Williams is perfectly capable of running the taskforce while you're in here. I still don't like to hear that anything has gone wrong with Five-O."

"We're in very good hands with Danny," Steve smiled.

"So that's all it takes? A near death experience and you go soft on me?" Danny asked as he looked skeptically at his partner.

"It must be the drugs talking," Steve smiled laying his head back on his pillow as the doctor walked in.

"Now long has he been awake?" Doctor Robinson asked as she glanced at all in the room accusingly, "Didn't I say to call me as soon as he woke up?" she asked addressing Danny.

"Sorry doctor," Danny said, "he just started talking and then we couldn't get him to stop."

"When can I go home doc?" Steve asked as he tried to sit up straighter and cringed at the sharp pain he had induced.

"Not for a few days at least," Robinson stated and forced him back down into the bet, "now stop moving or you're rip out my beautiful suchering, I'm kind of a pro at that sort of thing."

Steve sighed and relented to the female doctor.

"Can I hire her full time to give Steve orders?" Danny asked jokingly as he addressed the Governor, "I've never seen him listen so well."

The governor shot Steve a disapproving glance.

"I've learned my lesson," Steve sighed, "and I'm working to be better."

"Good," Jameson smiled and turned to the door, "I'll leave you now, get well soon McGarrett. I believe you have a rather large profile fugitive to be tracking and I want you in top physical condition for that." She added and left the room.

"Well things are looking pretty good," Doctor Robinson stated, "you need to stay in bed, immobile for a few days and we'll be watching you extremely closely for post op infections, but my professional opinion is that you will recover."

"Thanks Doc," Steve smiled.

"Let him rest, please," She added addressing the gathering of his team.

"We will," Chin answered for the rest of the group.

"And do get some rest yourselves. You're no good to the state of Hawaii if you tired, or worse, sick." She said and left the room.

"What's in the envelope?" Steve asked once the doctor had left.

"Intell on Wo Fat," Danny answered bluntly. "I got the governor on the case as soon as she saw your condition. She wanted to do anything she could to help and she has."

"Let me see it," Steve stated reaching out for the envelope.

"Not now," Danny said. "You have your own information to look into," he added motioning to the envelope that Chin had left on the bed for him.

"What is that?" Steve asked as he held the sealed envelop in his hands. "I assumed it was about the car chase."

"It's not; Max was up here at about 3am. He was glad to see you made it through surgery and that you didn't land yourself on his slap like the Valentella brothers. He matched the bullet from your father's case to the bullet that we confiscated last night after your surgery; the results are in this envelope." Chin said. "I thought it was only fitting that you be the first to see them."

"We have the evidence we need," Steve said the hint of a smile at the corners of his mouth.

"Yes, and we'll act on it when you are well again." Danny stated.

"He'll get away if we wait too long," Steve sighed.

"We're on it, and so is every other HPD officer on the force," Chin said, "there were a lot of officers that saw what happened yesterday. People know who Wo Fat is and what he is capable of and now he is running scared. He'll slip up and we'll get him. Don't worry."

"I'm not worried," Steve sighed again and felt fatigue overcoming him one again.

"Alright, that's enough for today," Danny said silencing the conversations, "doctor's orders are to rest and that is what you must do." He added.

"Thanks you guys," Steve said as he closed his eyes.

"That's what the team is for," Danny said as the others around him nodded.


	33. Life 9 Honolulu 2010

Chapter 33: Life #9 Honolulu 2010

_I tried with all my might but I just couldn't talk John into leaving his case. In fact I think it made him more determined and I worried that that was the plan all along. I think I was played for a fool and I played out my part perfectly. The more I pleaded with John the more he looked into Wo Fat, the more determined he got, and the more he truly believed he would finally solve his wife's murder case. I could only watch for two years, holding my breath every time I heard a siren. I'm sure Chin read it all in my behaviour but I had to continue with what I was doing, John had ordered it. For the first time in almost twenty years of living in Hawaii, I wanted to pack up and I wanted to leave and I wasn't going to stand by and watch my friend get himself killed. I was almost ready, had everything planned, when it happened._

_The state of Hawaii was thrown into uproar at the caliber of the crime that was committed against John. I couldn't believe it myself. He had been missing for two days and then to find him in his home, shot in the head, was more than HPD or the FBI could have ever imagined. His body was beaten and broken when they found him tied to a chair in his living room. I can only imagine what it would have been like for his poor children when they heard about their fathers passing._

_I couldn't leave Hawaii after that, I think I was spurred on to pick up where John had left off and for the first time in my life I debated carrying my gun on me at all times, just for the simple fact that if I ever saw Wo Fat again, I would kill him, without thinking. I knew that I was as good as dead myself, why would he keep me around if John was no longer useful to him? I hated him, I knew it was his doing, and I hated him more than I hated my family. He had murdered my dearest friend, my Ohana, my brother and it changed me._

_I was present on that fateful morning that we buried my friend in true hero's fashion. Chin Ho stood beside me and I saw men and women glare at us, but we had every right to be present among them, and then I saw him. I had to double take, I could have sworn I was seeing the ghost of my friend but the uniform was wrong. The young man caught Chin's eye as well and though I don't know if he looked at us or recognized us, I knew that John's son had returned to the island. My heart broke again that day because I saw something like hatred in Steven McGarrett's eyes. He was no longer the happy, care free boy that he was and even though it was a time for sadness, and he was sad, he was more angry in that moment and I prayed for the boy I had watch grow._

_It wasn't long until the threats started again and I realized just how much John had been doing to protect me. Giorgio came to my office. He threatened me again but there were too many people that came to my rescue. I wasn't going to be afraid anymore. I told him that and I told him if he ever set foot on my property again I would have him arrested, or shot because I had enough connections to have it done, but I knew that I was in danger without McGarrett._

_The day Chin Ho came to me sporting his badge was one of the happiest days of my life and yet he looked so sad. All I had ever wanted, for the man, was for him to be where he belonged and I knew, with all of his training and the high esteem he was held in by John, he needed to be a police officer. I could tell that Chin was reluctant to tell me of this new offer, but I was so happy for him. I wanted to know every detail, every honor that he had gained and when he told me that it was John's son, my heart leapt. _

_I wanted to reach out to Steven in those days. I suppose I wanted to hold onto a part of John but Chin explained much of what was happening and how the task force was started and why, and I knew that someday I would meet Steven again, he would come looking for me or his work would lead him here. I had learned a lot about patients in my many years of running and waiting and living in fear, so I knew I would one day turn around and there he would be with the same smile as his father._

_The one thing that I did, however, do after John was killed was keep my weapon always within arms reach. I didn't take it on the bounties because I had never needed it on them, but I knew that Wo Fat would come to my office. I knew that my brothers knew how to find me and if anything happened it would be in an intimate place for them. They would come to me in my solitude and they would do whatever it took. The one thing I know I will never let change is the way I have been living my life. I will go through the motion as I do every day, and though my gun is a reminder of the dangers that I have always lived through, at least I have lived and I have been happy and I have done good things._

**A/N: Well that is my last Kat chapter. I am ready to lay the Character to rest finally. I will miss her. I really liked her.**


	34. Case Closed

Chapter 34: Case Closed.

Steve set the diary down when he had finished it, the last entry leaving enough to be imagined and more to be hoped for, but it never came, and he sat silently watching the gentle movement of the fish in his fish tank as he thought about his first meeting with Kat after so many years. He hadn't known he had his father's smile. He had seen her, but hadn't recognized the woman standing with Chin Ho, but he remembered her now and knew that she had sketched his character and his feelings correctly on that morning in the cemetery. He hadn't through about it, but Kat had seen it somewhere and knew that he had been somehow placed on the same path as his father to protect her. It was comforting to know that she recognized him, that she had wanted to know more about him because he had always wanted to know more about his father, and although he learned a little in the time that she had lived and spoke about John, he learned more about his father in the diary that he had just finished. He was proud to know of John's determination, his dedication to the job and Steve wanted to be like his father more than ever. Policing was his true calling, he would see the job through and learn what Danny, Chin and Kono had to teach him. It was now time to not look to the past, but experience the future.

Steve had been released from the hospital late the previous day and had hitched a ride home with Chin who had been taking their vigil at his bed side extremely seriously. Chin was the unlucky one to have relieved Kono of her watch and was present to witness the fight that pursued, with the doctor, before Steve was finally given the go ahead to go home. Steve had finally been able to spend a restful night at home and although he was still in pain from the surgery, it was nothing compared to finally having his independence back. The very next morning he wanted back into the swing of things and had ventured into the office, earlier than everyone, simply to avoid the fight that he would have when Danny found out he was already back behind his desk.

Steve started for a moment when the lights to the bullpen came on and the sound of footsteps echoed off the hardwood floor. His mind raced to his weapon, to who it could be and why they were so early. His door opened a crack and he almost reached for his weapon before he realized just who it was.

"Uncle Steve," Gracie cried as she spotted him behind the desk.

"Hey Gracie," Steve smiled as she ran around to him and he wrapped his arms around her.

"Why am I not surprised to see you there, with that diary no less?" Danny asked from the doorway.

"What are you doing here so early?" Steve asked with a smile.

"We've been taking care of your fish, so we came to feed them," Grace smiled and held up a see through plastic bag to him, "and we were hoping to make an addition to the tank before you got here, but now you are here so you can add it yourself."

"What is it?" Steve asked eyeing the brightly coloured and patterned fish in the bag.

"It's a Clown Trigger Fish," Grace stated happily, "His name is Steve," she smiled.

"Why did you let her name it Steve?" McGarrett asked eyeing his partner who chuckled in the corner.

"Her fish, her reasons," Danny stated.

"You really want to know why?" Grace asked her eyes sparkling gleefully.

"Yes," Steve said unable to resist the little girl and her charm.

"Well, the lady at the pet store said that even though the Clown Trigger Fish is very beautiful it is very aggressive and that it will pick on fish and coruscations that are smaller than it is, and you sometimes pick on Danno," Gracie stated.

"That's not the only reason she named it Steve," Danny stated a hint of embarrassment in his voice.

"Nope, it's also a Trigger Fish and you just got shot so it seemed logical," Grace smiled.

Steve laughed out loud, "that is very good logic. You know who else would have come up with that reasoning?" he asked.

"Danno," Gracie smiled, "I am his daughter."

"The apple never falls far from the tree," Steve said with a smile. "Should we get him into the water?" he asked and Gracie nodded her agreement.

Grace rushed to the corner of the office where the tank loomed, while Steve slowly stood from his place and walked to her side, with a slight limp.

"Why are you here Steven?" Danny asked again, his voice hushed.

"I needed to feel like I was doing something," Steve answered, "even though you guys have made so much headway."

"We've wrapped the Katherine case," Danny stated, "and now all our focus is on Wo Fat. We will catch him."

"I know you will and I want to be apart of it," Steve stated, "In whatever way I can. I know I'm a liability to the team at this point, but I can do all the paper work, or make phone calls, whatever it takes."

"Alright, but you have to promise me to take it easy," Danny stated, "and easy being in human terms, not Navy SEAL terms."

"I'm human," Steve laughed.

"I'm glad we got that cleared up," Danny said sarcastically.

"So what's new with the case?" Steve asked.

"We're not talking the case with my daughter here," Danny hissed.

"So Gracie, what else did the pet store lady tell you about my new 'Steve' fish?" Steve smiled and knelt down beside Grace before the tanks as he untied the top of the bag and placed it gently into the water to let the fish become acclimatized.

"She said that the Trigger fish are very curious fish and you'll probably be able to train it to eat right out of your hands, but you have to be careful because it has sharp teeth." Grace stated.

"Like piranhas?" Steve asked as he turned and looked at Danny.

"Not quite," Danny laughed.

"Danno told me about your piranhas. I'm glad you didn't keep them. They aren't pretty and kinda scary looking. We saw some at the pet store," Grace stated.

"I'm glad I didn't keep them either," Steve smiled as they watched the new fish swim out of the bag and into the tank. "There, he's in to stay now. He'll have to watch his back though with my 'Danno' Shark to give him a run for his money."

"Now you have your whole Ohana in the tank," Gracie smiled as she watched the fish as if she were hypnotized.

"Yes, I do," Steve smiled and struggled to get back up.

"Whoa, big fella, it may be a little early to be back on your feet," Danny stated as he stepped in and grabbed Steve by the bicep.

"I'm fine," Steve stated once he was balanced.

"Right, just peachy aren't you, Rambo," Danny laughed. "Go home, get some rest. We'll get to work on Monday."

"Ok," Steve sighed.

"We're going to the beach. You want to come along?" Grace asked as she took Danny's hand, ready to follow him out of the office.

"The beach, Danno hates the beach," Steve smiled.

"I don't hate the beach, who hates the beach, crazy people hate the beach!" Danny stated waving his free hands around, "are you coming or not?" he asked finally and watched the smile spread across Steve's face. "Kono and Chin are meeting us there, its Saturday after all and only crazy navy SEAL's work on Saturdays."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Steve smiled and followed his best friend out of the office.

End.

**A/N: Well that's all. I hope you liked it. I will admit that I don't have any plans to writing a capturing of Wo Fat story. This plot and the characters are done with for now. I will be writing other five-o stories over the summer, but I am sure I am finally finished with this universe I dove into. **


End file.
